Citizenship (Amendment) Bill totally unconstitutional, will oppose it in RS: Ghulam Nabi Azad

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, is "totally unconstitutional" and his party will oppose the Bill in the Rajya Sabha, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said on Tuesday.

"We had a meeting with other like-minded political parties about 4-5 days back. We were as many as 13 political parties and we unanimously decided that we will vote against this Bill, because it is against the basic structure of the Constitution of India. It is totally unconstitutional. This is not good for the health of the country," Azad told ANI here.

"We have seen for the past few years ever since the BJP has taken over the government at the national level, instead of finding solutions to the most important issues like unemployment and rising prices and problems of farmers, they are trying to divert the attention of the people of this country from these most important issues. I think the entire nation at this moment is against this Bill because it is unconstitutional," he added.

The Bill will be tabled in the Upper House at 2 pm by Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday.

The Bill, which seeks to give citizenship to refugees from Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Zorastrian communities fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh was passed in the Lok Sabha on Monday.

After heated discussions spanning seven hours, the Bill was passed with a majority of 311 votes against 80 in the Lower House where 391 members were present and voted.

In the Rajya Sabha, the Centre requires the support of at least 123 MPs in the 245-member Upper House.