New Delhi: As the central government is expected to table the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, in Parliament next week, Congress is gearing up to make out a strategy regarding the same.
A meeting of senior Congress leaders was held over the Bill at the residence of interim president Sonia Gandhi. Congress Parliamentary Strategy Group leaders including Ahmed Patel, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Anand Sharma Kapil Sibal and Manish Tewari were present in the meeting.
Party had earlier opposed the Bill, while senior leaders of the party stated that this bill will have a strong impact in North-Eastern states. Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi had earlier sent a delegation of senior leaders to North-East states which later submitted the report to her.
After that, another committee has been set up to take the final call on the party's stand as there are voices in the party who want to support the Bill, especially in Assam where few leaders think that the Bill must be analyzed.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, and the Personal Data Protection Bill are among the nine bills, which are expected to be taken up for passage in the Lok Sabha in the last week of the Winter Session of Parliament. The bill seeks to grant citizenship to non-Muslims from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan escaping religious persecution there. The bill was cleared by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, is listed for introduction and passage in the House on Monday. The Winter Session will conclude on December 13.
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