The Nepal Citizenship (First Amendment) Bill-2079, which was returned with a message from President Bidhya Devi Bhandari, has been passed.

Home Minister Balkrishna Khand’s proposal to pass the Nepal Citizenship Bill 2079, which was withdrawn by President Bhandari, was passed by the majority.

After the main opposition party CPN-UML demanded a division of votes, Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota called for a vote on the Citizenship Bill. 135 votes were cast in favour of it while 60 votes were cast against it.

More than 77 parliamentarians from the ruling party and the opposition expressed their opinions while participating in the discussion on the bill.

In the constitution, the president is given the right to withdraw the bill only once. If the bill is again passed by both the houses, there is a constitutional provision that the President must certify it. After the approval of the President, the bill will become law.