Citizenship bill to be tabled on Monday; BJP issues whip to its Lok Sabha MPs for 3 days

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has issued a three-line whip, which denotes urgency, directing all its lawmakers to be present in the Lok Sabha for three days, from December 9 to December 11 as Union Home Minister Amit Shah will table the Citizenship Amendment Bill on Monday, in the Lower House of Parliament.

"All BJP members in Lok Sabha are hereby informed that some very important Legislative Business will be taken up for discussion and passing in the Lok Sabha from Monday, the 9th December 2019 to Wednesday, the 11th December 2019. All members of the BJP in Lok Sabha are, therefore, requested to be positively present in the House and support the government," the official notification said.

A three-line whip is a written notice, underlined three times to denote urgency.

The tabling of the bill is listed in the day`s business for the Lok Sabha. This move comes days after the Union Cabinet last Wednesday approved the Bill. 

Responding to questions after the Cabinet meeting, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar had said the Citizenship Amendment Bill takes care of India`s interests. "I am confident that when Bill`s provisions are announced, Assam, Northeast and the entire country will welcome it."

The Citizenship Amendment Bill was passed by the Lower House of the Parliament earlier in 2019 but lapsed with the term of the previous Lok Sabha.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 that seeks to provide Indian nationality to Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Parsis, Jains and Buddhists fleeing persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, is facing opposition from the Opposition parties with the Congress calling it "unconstitutional".

If passed by Parliament, it will amend the Citizenship Act of 1955 introducing exceptional provisions for acquiring citizenship for non-Muslim immigrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.