Congress Northeast campaign centres around Citizenship Bill

The BJP and Congress are addressing the Citizenship Amendment Bill issue in contrasting ways in their campaigns in the Northeast. While the ruling party is refraining from talking much about it, the Congress campaign is centred on the law proposed by the Narendra Modi government.

Northeast India had witnessed raging protests against the Bill that proposed to make minority communities such as Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan eligible to apply for Indian citizenship.

The Congress is now telling voters across the region how it has opposed the Bill, as the party seeks to gain from the local sentiment against the proposed law. According to the party, because of its efforts, the Bill was not introduced in the Rajya Sabha despite it being passed in the Lok Sabha on January 8.


The Congress is also campaigning that the BJP would bring back the Bill if was voted back to power. The Congress is pointing to Amit Shah’s rally in Lakhimpur on February 17 where the BJP national president said Assam would not be allowed to become the next Kashmir and that the Citizenship Amendment Bill would be brought again after the BJP returned to power at the Centre.