The Opposition in Rajya Sabha tore into the government on Wednesday over the Citizenship Amendment Bill, terming the proposed legislation as "unconstitutional", "divisive" and an assault on the democratic and secular fabric of the nation.
The Upper House witnessed strong opposition to the Citizenship (Amendment ), 2019 from the Congress, Shiv Sena, NCP, DMK, BSP, RJD, JDS, AAP, MDMK, TRS, IUML and SDP during the six-hour-long debate on the controversial legislation.
The opposition parties wanted the Bill to be sent to the Select Committee of the House but the motion was defeated with 124 votes against it and 99 in favour.
Launching a scathing attack on the government, 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.
The senior Congress leader said: "Honourable home ministerji, you brought demonetisation, GST, (legislation on) triple talaq, NRC, Article 370 (related law) and Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in the same pattern. You bring such bills every four or six months to divert the attention of people from unemployment, problems of farmers, poverty...."
He termed the Bill as an assault on the foundational values of Constitution and added "it hurts the soul of republic of India."
"This bill should be thrown into the Bay of Bengal," he said
Ripun Bora (Cong) said: "You have finished Assam, entire North East is burning. Now you are going to finish the entire country by bringing this bill... you may pass the bill but the Northeast will not accept it."
Satish Chandra Misra (BSP) said: "We are opposing as preamble of the Constitution, which states everyone should be treated equal, has been compromised. ...the soul of our Constitution is secularism."
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