West Bengal BJP celebrates passage of Citizenship (Amendment) Bill

The West Bengal BJP celebrated the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. Workers gathered in the party's state headquarters here in large numbers and distributed sweets. They also burst firecrackers.

As soon as the Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha, BJP workers came out in the streets and started distributing sweets. The Upper House of Parliament approved the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill with 125 MPs voting in favour and 99 against it, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said. The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on Monday.

The Bill seeks to provide Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees coming from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan after facing religious persecution there.