Citizenship Bill faces Rajya Sabha test today

New Delhi: After being passed by the Lok Sabha, the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, is all set to be taken up by the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. The Bill had a smooth sailing in the Lok Sabha and it looks like the Upper House too won’t pose a big hurdle.

While the full strength of the Rajya Sabha is 245, its current strength is 240. This makes 121 the majority mark. The BJP has 83 MPs in the Upper House. Its allies such as Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United), Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) have six and three MPs, respectively.

Apart from NDA allies, there are other parties that are likely support the bill. These include the AIADMK, which has 11 MPs, Naveen Patnaik’s BJD and Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSRC, which have seven and two MPs, respectively. The Telugu Desam, which supported the bill in the Lok Sabha, is expected to vote on similar lines in the RS as well. It has two MPs. With the support of other smaller parties, the government is confident of easy passage of the Bill. In fact, sources said that the government is confident that the bill will get the support of more than 125 members in the Upper House.

The BJP’s ally-turned-foe Shiv Sena voted in favour of the amendment in Lok Sabha, however in Rajya Sabha it is expected to vote against the bill. The Sena has three MPs in the Upper House.

On the other hand, the Congress (46 MPs), Trinamool Congress (13) and the NCP (4), among others, will be opposing the bill. Mayawati’s BSP and the CPI(M), with four and five MPs in Rajya Sabha, respectively, are also expected to oppose the bill. The Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), with nine and three MPs respectively, are also expected to vote against the bill. The BJP was hoping to secure the support of the TRS, which opposed the Bill in the LS. But the TRS said its six MPs will oppose the Bill in the Rajya Sabha as well.