NEDA members, including CMs, urge Rajnath Singh to reconsider Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 

NEDA leaders with Rajnath Singh.

New Delhi: Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma of National People’s Party along with Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga of Mizo National Front and other representatives of the member parties of the North East Democratic Alliance – a BJP-led non-Congress group of political parties – have met Union home minister Rajnath Singh, in New Delhi, and requested him to reconsider the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016.

Sangma, on Friday, said that majority of the people of the affected northeastern region will not accept the proposed bill.

He said, “All coalition partners in Meghalaya, as well as Mizoram CM Zoramthanga, expressed concerns over the bill. We have expressed concerns of various parties, the civil society and people of the northeast in general. Most people will not accept the bill.”

Ruling out accepting a modified bill, he said, “There is no question of modification. We have urged the home minister not to go ahead with the bill.”

CM Zoramthanga has also confirmed that they do not want any amendment in the Citizenship Act that is in force for 64 years. “Amendments should not be there. Let it remain as it is. That’s what we want,” he said.

The conclave of the NEDA will be addressed by the Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah on Sunday in the capital. NEDA convener Himanta Biswa Sarma has confirmed that seven chief ministers of northeastern states including Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura have been invited to the meet. Except Sikkim chief minister Pawan Kumar Chamling, all six chief ministers have confirmed their participation.

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