NPP will snap ties with NDA if Citizenship Bill is brought again: James Sangma

SHILLONG:  Meghalaya Home Minister James P K Sangma Monday said the ruling National People's Party (NPP) will snap ties with the NDA if the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill is brought again and passed as it is "harmful" to the indigenous people of the northeast.

Sangma's statement came a day after BJP president Amit Shah announced in Assam on Sunday that the BJP will bring the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill again if voted to power.

"Our (NPP) president was very clear when he said that if the bill is passed, we will break ties with the BJP. We would like to reiterate that if the bill is brought again and passed, we will break our ties with the NDA," the senior NPP leader said on the sidelines of a programme here.

"The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill is very harmful to the region. We will keep opposing the CAB in whatever format it comes in. Our stand is very clear on that," he said.

"We must all fight against it unitedly (in the northeast region) and we will continue to fight against it. If it is brought again, we will continue to oppose it," Sangma added.

The Meghalaya state leadership of the BJP has also expressed opposition to the bill. According to BJP state president Shibun Lyngdoh, BJP MLA and cabinet minister A L Hek had written to the central leadership on the stand of the party's state unit.

"Our LP leader, A L Hek, had written to the BJP leadership, informing about the stand of the party in Meghalaya," Lyngdoh said. BJP MLA and Meghalaya Tourism Development Corporation Chairman Sanbor Shullai had last month written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, threatening to resign from the party if the bill was passed.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 is set to lapse on June 3, when the term of the present Lok Sabha ends as it could not be tabled and passed in Rajya Sabha which adjourned sine die last Wednesday.