The Congress on Monday hit back at Home Minister Amit Shah and said that the foundation for the two-nation theory was laid by Savarkar at a Hindu Mahasabha session in 1935, and not the grand old party. Earlier in the day, the Home minister had blamed the Congress for partition on religious line and said: “Had the Congress Party not allowed the Partition of this country on the basis of religion, this (Citizenship Amendment) Bill wouldn’t have been needed. It isn’t our fault, it’s theirs.”

Hitting back at Shah, senior Congress leader Manish Tewari said: “Today, the Home Minister said that Congress is responsible for partition on basis of religion. I want to make it clear that the foundation for the two-nation theory was laid in 1935 in Ahmedabad by Savarkar in a Hindu Mahasabha session, and not Congress.” He vehemently opposed the Citizenship Amendment Bill tabled by Home Minister Shah for passage in Lok Sabha.

Speaking on the Bill, Manish Tewari said this is against Article 14, Article 15, Article 21, Articles 25 and 26 of the Indian constitution. “This bill is unconstitutional and against the basic right of equality,” he added. The Bill seeks to grant citizenship to six identified minority communities namely Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

The opposition parties that are opposing the bill are calling it communal as it excludes Muslims. However, BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav today said that the arguments of the opposition parties against the bill are misleading. “This bill is not about excluding anybody, rather it is about including people from minorities who have come over to India in the last seven decades,” he added.

Home Minister Amit Shah too said that there was no political agenda behind the bill. “No question of injustice with anyone…I want to assure this House that this Bill will only bring justice to the people who have been waiting for it for 70 years. It is not targeting anyone and will do no injustice,” he said in Lok Sabha.

The Home minister also said that it was not the first time that a government had decided on citizenship. “In 1971, Mrs Indira Gandhi decided that all people from Bangladesh would be given citizenship. Now tell me why did she not take the citizens from Pakistan?” Amit Shah asked the Congress.