CAB aims to change the foundation of Indian Constitution: Kapil Sibal

"The Home Minister was right in saying this is a historic bill. Historic in the sense that it changes the foundation of the Constitution," he said.

Countering Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress Rajya Sabha MP Anand Sharma on Wednesday said the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, is an assault on the Constitution.

Speaking in the Rajya Sabha after the bill was tabled in the upper house, Sharma said, "The bill is an assault on the Constitution."

"The Home Minister in the Lok Sabha blamed the Congress for partition. He blamed the ones who spent days in jail during the British era," he added.

Tabling the CAB in Rajya Sabha, Amit Shah on Wednesday said Indian Muslims need not to worry about the bill which will grant citizenship to all non-Muslim refugees came to India from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan on or before Dec 31, 2014.

"The non-Muslim minorities in the three neighbouring countries were either converted or had to seek refuge in India to save their religion," Shah said adding, "No Indian Muslim will have to worry as long as the Narendra Modi government is in place. The government is working with the spirit of the Constitution."

The bill was passed by Lok Sabha on Monday midnight with 311 votes in favour of it while 80 MPs had opposed it.

Though the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lacks majority in Rajya Sabha, it is likely to sail through even in the upper house with the support of several regional parties including Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Janata Dal (United), AIADMK.