By Our Reporter President Bidya Devi Bhandari finally returned the bill to amend the Nepal Citizenship Act, 2007 to the House of Representatives on Sunday, asking the latter to review it. The Office of the President said in a statement that the President returned the bill to the parliament citing a need for reconsidering some provisions for obtaining citizenship in Nepal. The bill was passed by both the Houses of the parliament and approved by the Speaker of the HoR, Agni Prasad Sapkota. The House of Representatives endorsed it on July 22 while the National Assembly approved this on July 28 with majority votes. The Bill was submitted to the House of Representatives by the present government on July 8 by withdrawing the old ones which had been pending in the federal parliament since August 2018. The parties were divided over some provisions included in the 2018 bill, and the new bill was tabled by amending its provision to grant citizenship to the foreign bride seven years after the marriage. Had the Bill been authenticated, the foreign brides would have received Nepal’s citizenship immediately after marriage. The move of the President to return the bill to the House received mixed reactions with nationalist forces as well as the CPN-UML welcoming it and other parties criticising the President. The cadres of the ruling parties as well as the UML in the Tarai took to the street after the rejection of the bill. However, in Kathmandu, people have remained largely silent. The bill was dragged into controversies as it has some provisions which would hamper sovereignty in the long run. Especially the provision of granting certificates to foreign brides and in mother’s name could one day outnumber Nepali people as more Indians will be able to get the certificate if the bill was authenticated. However, the ruling parties have decided to forward the bill as it is to the President through a fast track. As such, the latter will have no option but to authenticate it and make a law. A meeting of the top leaders of the ruling five parties on Tuesday decided to table the Citizenship Bill in the parliament and send it again to the President for its authentication. After the meeting, Minister for Communication and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki informed that the Bill would be sent to the President again. However, in the parliament on Tuesday, the lawmakers of the ruling parties did not utter any word for or against the move of the President but the main opposition hailed the act of the president. In her 9-page message, President Bhandari raised her concerns about the arrangements made in the bill to amend the Citizenship Act 2063 BS. However, she has not pointed out particular provisions, which need amendment, in her 15-point message sent to the parliament. The House of Representatives endorsed the 'Citizenship Bill (1st Amendment-2079)' with majority votes on July 22, rejecting 45 amendment proposals. The Upper House passed it on July 28, a week after it was endorsed by the Lower House. But the President did not authenticate it although she kept it for 14 days. It is said that the President returned the Bill at the suggestion of UML chair KP Sharma Oli so that he could make it a nationalist agenda in the elections. Others argue that the bill was returned because the ruling parties also were not willing to endorse the bill. However, the decision of the ruling parties on Tuesday proved it wrong.