N-E parties decide to oppose Citizenship Bill

Guwahati: Ten political parties of the north-east, most of which are members of the BJP-led North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), along with the saffron party's key ally in Bihar, the JD(U), on Tuesday unanimously decided to oppose the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill jointly.

At a meeting of the parties, it was also decided that a delegation comprising representatives of all the outfits would meet President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to apprise them of their opposition to the bill that sought to provide Indian citizenship to those Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsees and Christians, who fled religious persecution in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan and entered India before December 31, 2014, after six years of residence in the country.

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, on whose initiative the meeting was called, and his Mizoram counterpart Zoramthanga also attended the crucial meeting.