The Congress will "tooth and nail" oppose the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Parliament as it is against the country's Constitution and its secular ethos, party leaders said on Sunday.
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the Congress' leader in Lok Sabha, made the party's stand clear after a meeting of the Congress' parliamentary strategy group at party president Sonia Gandhi's 10 Janpath residence here.
Apart from Chowdhury, leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, chief whip in Lok Sabha Kodikunnil Suresh and whip Gaurav Gogoi, among others, attended the meeting.
The Bill seeks to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan escaping religious persecution there.
"We will oppose the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Parliament as it is against our Constitution, secular ethos and culture," Chowdhury told reporters.
Suresh told PTI that "we will oppose this bill tooth and nail as it is anti-Constitutional and anti-secular".
He said it was also decided at the meeting that the party will raise the case of rape and setting ablaze of the woman in Unnao, who passed away on Friday night.
The party will voice concerns over the assaults on women in various parts of the country.