Citizenship Amendment Bill: CAB Clears Rajya Sabha Test, Shiv Sena Skips Vote; 10 Points

Now cleared by both the houses of Parliament, the Citizenship Amendment Bill will be sent to President Ram Nath Kovind for his consent.

**EDS: TV GRAB** New Delhi: A view of the Rajya Sabha during the Winter Session of Parliament, in New Delhi, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2019. (RSTV/PTI Photo)

New Delhi: In what can be termed as a major success for the BJP government, the contentious Citizenship Amendment Bill successfully cleared its Rajya Sabha test on Wednesday with 125 members voting for and 99  against the Bill. Now cleared by both the houses of Parliament, the Bill will be sent to President Ram Nath Kovind for his consent, and will then complete the legislative process for giving Indian citizenship to non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The CAB paves the way for citizenship to lakhs of illegal immigrants living in various parts of the country, even if they lacked any document to prove their residency. The cut-off date for being eligible for the Indian nationality is December 31, 2014, which means those applying for citizenship should have entered India on or before this date. The citizenship would be granted with retrospective effect. This was the second attempt by the Modi government to amend the citizenship law. In January, the legislation was passed in the lower house but lapsed with the 15th Lok Sabha as it was not brought in Rajya Sabha where the ruling alliance lacked the numbers. 10 Points: Here is what happened in the Rajya Sabha

1. After a six-hour-long debate on the bill, it was passed by the House with Shiv Sena not participating in the voting process and JDU voting in its support.
2. Besides NDA constituents such as the JD-U, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and AIADMK, the legislation was supported by the BJD, TDP, YSR-Congress and independents.
3. BJP's former ally Shiv Sena, which made all the noises of opposing the bill on the grounds that it ignored citizenship for migrants from other neighbouring nations, made a quiet exit from the House just before the voting.
4. Apart from the three Shiv Sena MPs who were not present during voting, two members each of Samajwadi Party and NCP as also one of TMC were absent.
5. Replying to a six-and-a-half-hour debate on the bill, Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday rejected the Opposition charge that the bill was anti-Muslim and said that Indian Muslims have nothing to fear as they are not affected by the legislation. He repeatedly stressed that the legislation will not take away anyone's citizenship and was only intended to help minority communities facing religious persecution in the three neighbouring countries.
6. Earlier, Rajya Sabha rejected a motion to send the bill to a select committee of the House with 124 members voting against it as compared to 99 in its favour.
7. The House also rejected several amendments moved by opposition members to the bill, mostly by voice vote. The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on Monday and will now go to the President for his assent.
8. The Opposition tore into the government during the debate with leaders of Congress, NCP, DMK, BSP, RJD, JDS, AAP, MDMK, TRS, IUML and SDP opposing the bill.
9. Leader of Opposition in the House Ghulam Nabi Azad demanded to know why the entire North East including Assam, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Nagaland was "burning" at the moment if people were happy about the proposed legislation.
10. Shah hit out at the Congress for alleged double speak on the issue, saying the party had during its rule given Indian citizenship to 13,000 Hindus and Sikhs from Pakistan without raising a word about the same for other communities

(With inputs from agencies)