Cong leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury calls CAB 'divisive', says it will 'break India'

On Wednesday, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury slammed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 calling it "divisive". "The Bill was brought to break India. Consolation price is given to smaller states of the northeast. This bill is half-baked, half-boiled and divisive. That's why people of Assam are angry." Protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill is continuing to rock Assam as a large group of students on Wednesday fought a pitched battle with the police near the state secretariat. 

Read: CAB protest: Students clash with police near Assam secretariat

"This bill should not be passed in Rajya Sabha. We will also raise our voices against it. This Bill is taking India to danger side so everyone should worry about this," Chowdhury told ANI.

Read: WATCH: Asaduddin Owaisi rips Citizenship Amendment Bill to shreds amid Lok Sabha debate

Where do the parties stand on CAB?

While the BJP saw an easy passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha, owing to the saffron party's majority in the House, passing the 245-member Rajya Sabha, will not to that easy. The halfway mark is currently 121 as five seats are vacant bringing down the strength of the House to 240.  The BJP has 83 MPs in the Rajya Sabha. Its allies including Nitish Kumar's JD(U) has 6, Akali Dal (SAD) has 3 MPs and RPI(A) has 1 in the House. However, in the process, a division of opinion over the Bill was witnessed within the JD(U), with Rajya Sabha MP Pawan Varma and party vice president Prashant Kishor contending the 'discriminatory' Bill. 

Read: PM Modi at BJP meet: Opposition speaking Pakistan's language on Citizenship Bill

Apart from BJP's allies- AIADMK with 11 MPs, Naveen Patnaik's BJD with 7 MPS, LJP with 1 MP, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy's YSRCP with 2 MPs are expected to back the Bill. On Monday, the Shiv Sena backed the Bill in the Lok Sabha, however, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray stated that the party will not support the Bill unless the party questions are answered by the ruling BJP.  According to preliminary analysis, 117 MPs are expected to support BJP over the Bill, along with 4 nominated MPs, thus garnering the support of 121 MPs for the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019. 

Read: Rajya Sabha awaits mega Citizenship Amendment Bill showdown: Here's how the numbers look