New Delhi, December 9: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said that the bill is needed because the Congress divided the country on the basis of religion. "Why do we need this Bill today? After independence, if Congress had not done partition on the basis of religion, then, today we would have not needed this Bill. Congress did partition on the basis of religion," he said. Citizenship Amendment Bill Debate: Asaduddin Owaisi Stokes Row, Says 'Amit Shah's Name Will be Featured With Adolf Hitler, David Ben Gurion If...'.

The Citizenship Amendment Bill was introduced by Amit Shah after a debate and voting in Lok Sabha. While 293 votes were in favour of tabling CAB in Lok Sabha, only 82 votes were against the introduction of Bill in the house. 'Citizenship Amendment Bill Not Even .001% Against Minorities': Amit Shah Rebuts Opposition's Anti-Muslim Charge in Lok Sabha.

ANI Update:

Shah, while countering the anti-Muslim charge levelled by the opposition, said that the Bill is not even ".001 percent against minorities" in the country. Shah's remark was triggered after Congress' Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury opposed the bill and said that it is "targeted legislation over minority people of our country."

The bill seeks to amend the six-decade-old Citizenship Act and prove Indian citizenship to non-Muslin refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. The bill is likely to face strong opposition in Parliament as opposition parties are protesting many clauses of highly contentious CAB.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 09, 2019 02:25 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).