BJP kept its promise, Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 all set for passage: Kabindra Purkayastha

Former Union minister and veteran BJP leader Kabindra Purakayastha, on Tuesday, said the much-talked Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 which is all set to be placed in the Parliament on January 7, would ensure that no genuine citizen face any further harassment in the State.

The bill, introduced in Lok Sabha, 2016, aims to grant citizenship to Hindus, Parsis, Jains, Buddhists, Sikhs and Christians, who fled religious persecution in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan and entered India before December 31, 2014.

Addressing the media at the district BJP office in Silchar, the former Union Minister said “there has been serious opposition to the Bill since its journey. However, in a recent development, the joint parliamentary committee led by chairman Rajendra Agrawal shall be placing it in the Parliament sans any amendments on January 7. Once the Bill gets passed, it will barely matter whose names feature in the National Register of Citizens and who are left out.”

Further, targeting the Congress and Silchar MP Sushmita Dev in particular, Purkayastha said “While the Congress maintained stiff opposition to the Bill demanding amendments which were against the purpose for the bill’s passage, the BJP has kept its commitment done to the people. We are waiting to witness the true concerns for the Bengali-speaking people once the bill gets tabled in the Rajya Sabha.”