GUWAHATI: ASOM Gana Parishad (AGP) has threatened to withdraw support to Assam’s BJP-led three-party coalition government if the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, is passed. The Bill seeks to grant citizenship to non-Muslim immigrants of Bangladesh besides Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Even if AGP pulls out support, it will not threaten the Sarbananda Sonowal government. In the 126-member Assam House, the BJP has 61 MLAs and is backed by the Bodoland People’s Front, which has 12 MLAs.
The listing of the Bill in the ongoing Winter Session of the Parliament has made two delegations—one each of the BJP and the AGP—to rush to Delhi. While the BJP team is demanding that the non-Muslim Bangladeshi immigrants be protected through granting of citizenship, the AGP delegation is pressing for the Bill’s withdrawal.
AGP leaders in Delhi said they would make it clear to BJP leadership that regional party would withdraw support in case the Bill was passed.