The Shiv Sena MP's have walked out of Rajya Sabha during the voting for the amendments to Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019.
On being asked if Shiv Sena has boycotted the voting, Sena's Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut said, "Yes, Shiv Sena has boycotted the voting."
The Shiv Sena, which voted in favour of the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Lok Sabha, opposed it in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, saying the draft law should have been debated on the basis of "humanity not religion".
The Sena does not need to prove how "staunch Hindu" and "patriotic" the party is, Sanjay Raut said while participating in a debate on the Bill in the Upper House.
"We should discuss this Bill based on humanity not on religion. There is a difference between intruders and refugees," said Raut, whose party is a former ally of the BJP.
The Bill which was cleared in Lok Sabha seeks to grant Indian citizenship to refugees from Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Zoroastrian communities fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh who entered India on or before December 31, 2014.
In the Rajya Sabha, the Centre requires the support of at least 123 MPs in the 245-member Upper House. Opposition parties including Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, Trinamool Congress, DMK are protesting against the bill, which was passed by Lok Sabha on Monday with a majority of 311 votes against 80 in the Lower House where 391 members were present and voted.
