Fadnavis hails Rajya Sabha nod to citizenship bill, slams Sena

Mumbai: BJP leader and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday hailed the passage of the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in the Rajya Sabha and slammed the Shiv Sena which abstained from voting after supporting the legislation in the Lok Sabha.

Fadnavis said he was pained to see the Shiv Sena, which heads the three-party government in Maharashtra along with the Congress and the NCP, "compromise" on core ideology for the "greed of power".

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The Leader of Opposition in the assembly said the bill was on the lines of core values taught by Sena founder Bal Thackeray.

He congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for the passage of the bill in the Upper House which completes the legislative process for giving Indian citizenship to non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

Fadnavis said approval of the bill in the Upper House of Parliament was a "huge, historic humanitarian step".

"Courageous! Visionary! Commendable!Once again, many congratulations to Hon PM Narendra Modi ji, Hon HM Amit Shah ji for this huge, historic humanitarian step!

"We also congratulate and thank all #RajyaSabha MPs for supporting #CitizenshipAmmendmentBill2019," he tweeted.

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"At the same time we are pained to see #ShivSena compromise its core ideology just for the greed of power," he said, attacking the BJP's former ally.

"This #CAB2019 is on the lines of core values taught by HinduHridaySamrat ShivSenaPramukh Balasaheb Thackeray ji.

"Maharashtra & entire nation will never forget this compromise," the former chief minister said on the Sena staging a walk out in the Rajya Sabha when the bill was put to vote.

As many as 125 MPs voted in favour of the bill in the Upper House and 99 against it, according to Rajya Sabha sources.

The Sena, which made all the noises of opposing the bill on grounds that it ignored citizenship for migrants from other neighbouring nations, made a quite exit from the House just before the voting.

Earlier, Shah had taken a dig at the Sena, asking what made it change its stand overnight after supporting the bill in the Lok Sabha on Monday.

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(PTI)