NEW DELHI, June 17 - The Union government is unlikely to bring the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 in the ongoing Budget session of Parliament.
According to a notification of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs issued on Monday, the Bill is not listed for re-introduction, though several Bills that lapsed during the previous Narendra Modi government are proposed to be re-introduced along with several ordinances.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill lapsed on February 13, 2019 in the Rajya Sabha, when the government failed to evolve a consensus and faced stiff opposition from some of its allies, including the Asom Gana Parishad.
However, since then, the BJP�s top leaders including Home Minister Amit Shah, have made it clear that the government was committed to re-introduce the Bill to protect Hindus of neighbouring countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan where they were reportedly facing harassment and religious persecution.
Meanwhile, the Lok Sabha members from Assam took oath on Monday. Tapir Goan of Arunachal Pradesh first took oath and was followed by MPs of Assam. Kripanath Mallah (Karimganj), Rajdeep Roy (Silchar), Horen Sing Bey (Autonomous District), Naba Kumar Sarania (Kokrajhar), Abdul Khaleque (Barpeta), Queen Oja (Guwahati), Dilip Saikia (Mangaldoi), Pallab Lochan Das (Tezpur), Pradyut Bordoloi (Nagaon), Gaurav Gogoi (Kaliabor), Topon Kumar Gogoi (Jorhat) and Pradan Baruah (Lakhimpur).
Dhubri MP Badruddin Ajmal was, however, absent. Kirin Rijiju of Arunachal Pradesh had earlier taken oath as Minister of State (Independent charge).
Dilip Saikia was the lone MP from the North East to take oath in Sanskrit, while in a rare gesture, Kaliabor MP Gaurav Gogoi brought over a group of first-time voters to Parliament to watch the oath-taking ceremony. �To witness my oath-taking ceremony, as a gesture, I bring some first-time voters from my constituency to overview our Parliamentary democratic system,� Gogoi said.
The triple talaq, the Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2019, the Indian Medical Council Bill, Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, the Special Economic Zones Bill among others have been lined up for re-introduction.
At least 10 ordinances have been promulgated during the inter-session period, which are to be replaced by Acts as they shall cease to operate on the expiry of six weeks from the reassembly of Parliament by August 1.
Further, 46 Bills that were in various stages in both the Houses lapsed on dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha. Some of these important Bills are likely to be revived.
