New Delhi: The Waqf Amendment Bill was cleared by the Lok Sabha on Thursday after a marathon debate for over 12 hours. The Lower House witnessed heated discussion between the members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Opposition’s INDIA Bloc. Now the bill will be tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
Numbers For NDA In Rajya Sabha:
The BJP-led NDA has 125 MPs in the 245-member house. The bill needs the support of 119 MPs to get passed in the Upper House.
Out Of the 125 NDA MPs, 98 are from the saffron party. The BJP’s ally in Bihar Janata Dal-United (JDU) has four MPS. Meanwhile, Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has three, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has two and one each member from Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena and the RLD.
The NDA is also confident of getting the support of six nominated MPS in the Upper House and single parties, including Asom Gana Parishad.
Numbers For Opposition In Rajya Sabha:
The Opposition INDIA bloc has 88 MPs. Out of these, the Congress has 27 MPs, 13 from the Trinamool Congress. Meanwhile, Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD), which is not part of the INDIA bloc, has seven members. It will be interesting to see how the BJD MPs will vote in the Upper House.
Waqf Bill Debate In Lok Sabha:
The Lower House sat beyond midnight to pass the legislation. The bill received the support of 288 members, while 232 MPs voted against it.
After a reply to the debate by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, Speaker Om Birla announced that the House is taking up item number 12 in the listed business – The Waqf (Amendment) Bill – for a decision of the House. He said the question is whether the bill should be taken up for consideration and then said the lobbies should be cleared.
He later announced the result of the division. “Subject to correction, Ayes 288, Noes 232. The majority is in favour of the proposal,” he said.
Notably, The revised bill was brought by the government after incorporating recommendations of the Joint Parliamentary Committee which examined the legislation which was introduced in August last year.
In his reply to the debate, Rijiju slammed the opposition parties for terming the Waqf Amendment Bill as “unconstitutional”, Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the law relating to Waqf property has been in existence for decades and has not been struck down by courts and such words should not be used lightly.
For the unversed, the Mussalman Wakf (Repeal) Bill, 2024 was also passed in the Lok Sabha last year. It was then sent to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC).
Earlier, in his speech, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the opposition is trying to build its vote bank by scaring the minority community.
He said the government does not want to interfere in the religious activities of Muslim brothers and the trusts associated with their donations.
“No non-Islamic member will get a place in the Waqf Board’s work related to religious donations. Work of non-Muslim members, appointed in the Waqf Board or its premises, will not be related to religious activities. A person of any religion can become the Charity Commissioner, he will ensure that the board is run according to charity law, this is administrative work, not religious,” the Home Minister said.
The bill seeks to amend the Act of 1995 to improve the administration and management of waqf properties in India.
