(LiveMint)
The Lok Sabha, in a late night sitting on Monday, passed the contentious Citizenship Amendment Bill amidst a vote of 311 in its favour and 80 against it out of 391 members who were present and voting. The next challenge for the union government will now be passage through Rajya Sabha where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government is currently in minority and will be banking on support by like minded parties to push through the legislation.
“I want to assure everyone here that by no account this bill violates the Constitution or Article 14,” Shah said while responding to the concerns raised by members of opposition parties in the due course of the day. “There is a difference between a refugee and an infiltrator, I assure you that after NRC comes into effect there will be no infiltrator in the country,” he added.
“Delighted that the Lok Sabha has passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 after a rich and extensive debate. I thank the various MPs and parties that supported the Bill. This Bill is in line with India’s centuries old ethos of assimilation and belief in humanitarian values,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on Twitter minutes after the Bill was passed.
