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After the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government won the 2019 Lok Sabha election with a thumping majority—with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alone winning over 300 seats— the parliamentary business was never as usual.
Between June to December 2019, the government (by then it improved its position in Rajya Sabha) rapidly pushed several legislations that dramatically altered the country’s legal framework.
The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill or the Triple Talaq legislation, which didn’t receive enough support in the previous Lok Sabha, was reintroduced.
On June 21 2019, both Houses in Parliament passed the bill next month. In August, Article 370, along with Article 35A was scrapped.
On December 9, the Modi-led government brought The Citizenship (Amendment) bill which allows non-Muslims from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan seek citizenship in India, in the Lok Sabha. It was passed the same day. Two days later, the amendments to the Citizenship Act of 1955 were approved in the Rajya Sabha.
After four years on March 11 (Monday), the government notified the rules for the new citizenship law.
The announcement evoked criticism from Opposition parties.
West Bengal is set to face possibly the biggest impact of the amended law as undocumented migration has become a major political issue in the state.
Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced she will oppose the bill and dubbed it as a “lollipop” before election and said, “If the government cancels the citizenship of anyone through CAA and NRC, we will not be quiet. We will show strong protest. We will not accept NRC at any cost. We will not allow using CAA to put people in detention camps. This is just deceiving the people as nobody can get citizenship in two days. I am waiting to see the law.”
Even as Banerjee claimed that everybody who “lives in India and Bengal is an Indian citizen”, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday attacked the Centre for notifying the rules of Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, terming it as BJPs’ game of distraction.
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal accused the BJP for doing “vote-bank politics”.
Kejriwal maintained that, “It is being said that the minorities from three neighbouring countries will be granted citizenships. It means they want people from neighbouring countries to settle in India. Why? Just for vote bank. When our youths don’t have jobs, who will employ people settling them from different countries? Who will build homes for them? Will BJP provide them jobs or build houses for them.”
Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan challenged the Centre and said, his government won’t implement CAA.
ED attaches ₹10 crore from TMC
Businessman KD Singh had joined the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the party quickly made him a Rajya Sabha MP in 2010 from Jharkhand, the TMC leadership felt they have been able to make inroads in the neighbouring state and expand the party. Singh got another term from TMC, but troubles started soon.
The party had tried to distance itself from Singh and the probes against him, but on Monday, the TMC paid another price for its association with Singh.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached ₹10.29 crore of the TMC in the form of demand draft in connection with its money laundering probe against Alchemist Group, headed by former Rajya Sabha member KD Singh.
The federal probe agency has alleged that Alchemist Airways Private Limited made payments worth ₹10.29 crore to various aviation or helicopter companies for aviation services availed by the TMC party during the campaigning for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections for its star campaigners like chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Mukul Roy, Munmun Sen, Nusrat Jahan, and others.
Experts quickly pointed out that the TMC, which rules Bengal since 2011, is the first political party whose money has been attached by ED.
Meanwhile, the Lok Sabha has told the Supreme Court that expelled lawmaker Mahua Moitra’s petition is not maintainable as Parliament is sovereign in respect of its internal processes. Moitra, a firebrand TMC lawmaker, was expelled on December 8 over alleged cash for questions scam.
In its affidavit filed before a bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, the secretariat highlighted that Moitra’s writ petition against her expulsion was not maintainable before a court of law because Parliament is sovereign in respect of its internal proceedings and that no member of Parliament can claim applicability of fundamental rights in respect of exercise of powers, privileges and immunities of the House.
Congress finalises its second list of candidates
The Congress’ poll body, CEC, discussed around 63 seats in its second meeting on Monday but could finalise nearly 40 seats.
In the first list, the Congress repeated more than 15 sitting MPs but on Monday, the party decided not to field former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot and former MP CM Digvijaya Singh while Kamal Nath’s son Nakul Nath, a sitting MP from Chhindwara got repeated.
Saubhadra Chatterji is Deputy Political Editor at the Hindustan Times. He writes on both politics and policies.
CAA notified: Rules for the new citizenship law draws Opposition parties’ ire – Hindustan Times
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