The Congress on Monday reaffirmed that it will “strongly” and “firmly” oppose contentious Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB), which the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) intends to introduce in the upcoming winter session of Parliament.

Talking to journalists in Meghalaya Congress Rajya Sabha member Jairam Ramesh said, “The proposed amendment is an attempt to divide the Indian Society which violates Article 14 and Article 21 of the Constitution. The CAB is anti-secular and anti-constitutional since it is against the preamble of the Constitution.”

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He also added that the Congress is reaching out to other political parties for their support against the CAB.

Ramesh is heading Congress delegation to four northeastern states of Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura. The delegation is gathering opinions of people and party leaders on the CAB and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and will submit its report to the Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

Ramesh claimed that BJP has suffered a “setback” in the just concluded elections in Maharashtra and Haryana because of Article 370, CAB and NRC.

“BJP should learn their lessons as they went to the polls on Article 370, CAB and NRC but people’s worries and concerns were different. But if they persist, which I think they will because that is in their DNA but we will continue to oppose,” he said.

While blaming the BJP and its ideologue the Raashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of dividing India on communal lines by implementing CAB and NRC, Ramesh said, “The CAB is an RSS and BJP project to divide India on religious lines. We will fight against it because this is anti-constitution and it will change the real nature of India.”

“The civil society, political leaders and political parties of the northeastern states had strongly opposed the CAB. A political consensus is required before we jump into NRC outside Assam. NRC is also an instrument of the BJP and RSS to divide and polarise Indian society. We will not allow India to become a haven for illegal immigration,” the veteran Congress leader said.

He added, “Political parties usually take a political stand but the Congress is taking a principle stand on the CAB because it is destroying the very basis of the Indian constitution and making religion the basis of citizenship and this is one thing Ambedkar warned us against, Gandhi warned us against.”

“It is ironic that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be speaking on the occasion of celebrating the 70th anniversary of the adoption of the draft of the Constitution on November 26 and at the same time he is pushing a Bill, which is destroying the very constitution. This is double standard and double face but we will do what we have to do,” he added.

Ramesh also said that Congress is not against the principles of the NRC to identify illegal migrants but against the way it has been executed and the problem inherent in the implementation. “There have been untold sufferings to genuine Indian citizens. What are these detention centres we are building? As an Indian, I find it shameful. Let us understand what the end result of this NRC is going to be,” he said.

Moreover, he said that NRC in Assam was historical legacy and was part of the Assam Peace Accord and political climate needs to be created to ensure that the NRC does not become an instrument of harassment and that people should not have fear of intimidation because of NRC.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill provides for according Indian citizenship to Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan after seven years of residence in India instead of 12 years currently even if they do not possess any document.

The Bill, passed by the Lok Sabha, lapsed in February, after it was not tabled in the Rajya Sabha following protest by several NDA allies and other social organisations in the north-eastern states.

The Centre is flayed by Opposition for omitting Muslims from the list of religious denominations eligible for getting citizenship in the proposed Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 and called it a “complete violation” of the Constitution.