The winter session of Parliament will begin on November 18 and end on December 13. During the session, the Centre is likely to introduce a fresh version of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill or CAB, which was passed by the previous Lok Sabha in January but not taken up in the Rajya Sabha following protests in Assam as well as other parts of the northeast.
While the previous monsoon session saw the passage of landmark bills such as Triple Talaq, Motor Vehicles Act, and amendments to the National Investigation Agency Act, the hallmark of the session was the scrapping of special status to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act.
The ruling BJP, which had tabled the CitizenshipAmendment Bill on 8 January 2019 during its first term in office, is likely tobring the Bill back this session, following the announcement of the final listof the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in August.
The bill seeks to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955, andgrant citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christianimmigrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who have illegallymigrated into India. The immigrants must have resided in India in the last oneyear and for at least six years in total to qualify for citizenship.
