Citizenship bill's passage marks 'dark day' in our constitutional history: Sonia

The Congress on Wednesday severely criticised the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill by Parliament with party president Sonia Gandhi saying it marks a "dark day" in the constitutional history of India and is a "victory of narrow minded and bigoted forces" over the country's pluralism.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to provide Indian citizenship to non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, was passed by Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. Lok Sabha cleared the Bill on Monday.

Several senior Congress leaders indicated that the party may move court against the Bill with Abhishek Singhvi saying that the legislation will be legally challenged in the near future as it is "highly suspect" in terms of constitutionality.

Hitting out at Home Minister Amit Shah over his remarks in support of the Bill, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram told reporters, "The Home Minister says 130 crore people are supporting us, obviously he does not count Assam, Northeast and all other protesters as part of the 130 crore."
Gandhi alleged that "in its design and its grave implications, it is a flawed legislation, is antithetical to the spirit of the freedom movement, and violative of the soul of India."
Asked if the Congress will move the Supreme Court, Singhvi told PTI, "It is certainly a legislation highly suspect in constitutionality in terms of basic structure and legal validity."