NEW DELHI, Dec 27 - BJP Rajya Sabha member from Maharashtra, Dr Vinay P Sahasrabuddhe is likely to be appointed chairman of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to examine the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, even as the BJP-led government at the Centre has expressed its commitment to pass the Bill in the Parliament.
The BJP MP from Maharashtra has been shortlisted for appointment as the new chairman of the JPC after Dr Satyapal Singh was appointed as a minister in the Modi government. BJP central leaders reportedly expedited the process following pressure from a BJP delegation from Assam.
Dr Sahasrabuddhe had earlier headed the Select Committee on the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2017. Hints were given to the Assam BJP delegation at the highest level that Dr Sahasrabuddhe is likely to be the new chairman, sources said.
Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has reaffirmed the commitment of the BJP-led NDA to bring the Bill in the Parliament again and pass it. He was quoted by the State BJP leaders as having assured that once the JPC submits its report in the Parliament, the government would push the Bill and have it passed. He also informed the BJP leaders that the process of appointment of a new chairman was being expedited.
�The Union Home Minister assured us that he was of the opinion that the Bill should be brought in the House. But he told us that JPC�s report was first required,� said senior BJP leader and former Union minister Kabindra Purkayastha.
Significantly, the BJP delegation had met Rajnath Singh the same day last week, when the AGP delegation had called on him to serve an ultimatum to quit the Sarbananda Sonowal government in Assam if the Centre went ahead with the controversial Bill.
Meanwhile, talking to this newspaper, Purkayastha said that a delegation of the BJP Barak Valley Coordination Committee under the leadership of BJP State president Ranjeet Dass has called on several Union ministers, including External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, to press for the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.
Sushma Swaraj also conveyed to the delegation that she was very much in favour of the Bill to be passed in the Parliament, he said.
On Wednesday, Purkayastha met JPC members Jugal Kishore Sharma and Om Birla to lobby for expediting the process. The BJP delegation had called on all the members of the JPC, he added.
Asked whether they favoured an Ordinance till the Bill is brought back, Purkayastha said that they are not in favour of an Ordinance. �I have not said anything about an Ordinance. The Bill should be brought and passed,� he said.
�We are backing only those people who are settled in Assam and not any new faces. According to the provisions of the Bill, December 31, 2014 is the cut-off date, which we support,� he said, adding, they are also planning to talk to All Assam Students Union in this regard.
Replying to a question, Purkayastha said that they expect 20 lakh Hindu Bengalis to be benefitted if the Bill is passed. He said that they also want the National Register of Citizens (NRC) to be done correctly and they are willing to cooperate with the process.
