NEW DELHI, Nov 7 - In a major initiative to resolve the controversy over the Bengali migrants issue, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Monday held a discussion with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh here.
Facing attack over the BJP�s stand on the Hindu Bengali migrants issue, the Chief Minister, accompanied by State minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and the party general secretary in-charge for Assam, Ram Madhav, called on Singh at his Akbar Road house and were closeted for over one and a half hour.
The turmoil generated in Assam after the introduction of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 and the pressure mounted by its own alliance partner AGP, besides organisations like AASU and AJYCP, and the ongoing hearing of the Join Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Bill has placed the BJP State leadership in a tight spot.
Without divulging much, Sonowal, emerging from his meeting with the Home Minister, told newsmen that they discussed the Indo-Bangla border and National Register of Citizenship (NRC).
These two issues are extremely important for the State, he said, adding, both the Centre and the State Government are committed to take these issues forward. �In this connection, we discussed several important aspects of these two issues,� Sonowal added.
Asked whether the issue of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 figured in the discussion, he said the Satyapal Singh-led committee will visit Assam and take the opinion of various political parties and organisations.
�Since the issue of Constitutional safeguard is an important one, we will take this issue forward... We are ready to take all measures to protect the democratic interests of the society,� Sonowal said.
According to sources, the BJP is gauging the political impact of the initiative being taken to grant citizenship rights to the Hindu Bengali migrants in Assam. The presence of Ram Madhav in the meeting is also significant as the BJP seems to be looking for a way out of the latest crisis in Assam.
As many as 26 ethnic organisations along with the AASU have launched a state-wide stir to oppose the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, which, they say, directly contradicts the historic Assam Accord that was signed in 1985 between the AASU, Centre and the State Government.
Further, the AGP, the alliance partner of the BJP, has demanded a tripartite meeting to review the implementation of the Assam Accord as a provision of the new Bill proposes to change the cut-off date turning the Accord irrelevant.
NEW DELHI, Nov 7 - In a major initiative to resolve the controversy over the Bengali migrants issue, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Monday held a discussion with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh here.
Facing attack over the BJP�s stand on the Hindu Bengali migrants issue, the Chief Minister, accompanied by State minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and the party general secretary in-charge for Assam, Ram Madhav, called on Singh at his Akbar Road house and were closeted for over one and a half hour.
The turmoil generated in Assam after the introduction of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 and the pressure mounted by its own alliance partner AGP, besides organisations like AASU and AJYCP, and the ongoing hearing of the Join Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Bill has placed the BJP State leadership in a tight spot.
Without divulging much, Sonowal, emerging from his meeting with the Home Minister, told newsmen that they discussed the Indo-Bangla border and National Register of Citizenship (NRC).
These two issues are extremely important for the State, he said, adding, both the Centre and the State Government are committed to take these issues forward. �In this connection, we discussed several important aspects of these two issues,� Sonowal added.
Asked whether the issue of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 figured in the discussion, he said the Satyapal Singh-led committee will visit Assam and take the opinion of various political parties and organisations.
�Since the issue of Constitutional safeguard is an important one, we will take this issue forward... We are ready to take all measures to protect the democratic interests of the society,� Sonowal said.
According to sources, the BJP is gauging the political impact of the initiative being taken to grant citizenship rights to the Hindu Bengali migrants in Assam. The presence of Ram Madhav in the meeting is also significant as the BJP seems to be looking for a way out of the latest crisis in Assam.
As many as 26 ethnic organisations along with the AASU have launched a state-wide stir to oppose the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, which, they say, directly contradicts the historic Assam Accord that was signed in 1985 between the AASU, Centre and the State Government.
Further, the AGP, the alliance partner of the BJP, has demanded a tripartite meeting to review the implementation of the Assam Accord as a provision of the new Bill proposes to change the cut-off date turning the Accord irrelevant.
