Unhappy with the Union cabinet’s decision to table the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB), 2019 and make it applicable partially in the state, the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government on Friday decided to oppose the bill.
This was decided in the meeting of the Coordination Committee of the MDA held at Hotel Pinewood in Shillong.
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Meghalaya deputy chief minister Prestone Tynsong told reporters that the meeting discussed the CAB issue and after detailed deliberation, it was decided not to accept the Bill as it will be implemented in some places that are outside the Schedule Areas of the state.
He said that during the meeting with Union home minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on November 30, it was conveyed that the CAB will not be implemented in ILP and Sixth Schedule states.
“If the Bill can be exempted in 96 per cent areas of the state, why not exempt the whole state from the applicability of the CAB?” Tynsong argued.
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In fact the BJP is part of the MDA government led by the National People’s Party (NPP).
The MDA government was formed by political parties which include the NPP, United Democratic Party (UDP), Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP), People’s Democratic Front (PDF), BJP and NCP, besides independents.
Tynsong informed that the MDA will now write to the Centre opposing the CAB and it should be exempted entirely in the state of Meghalaya.