New Delhi:
Asserting that misconceptions are being spread on the Waqf bill by some parties to shore up their vote banks, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said that, through the proposed legislation, PM Narendra Modi is fulfilling the wishes of RJD chief Lalu Prasad while the opposition had failed to do so.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, Mr Shah insisted that the new legislation may not have been necessary if the Waqf (Amendment) Act had not been passed in 2013 – when the Congress-led UPA II was in power – just months before the Lok Sabha elections the following year.
At the time, Lalu Prasad, whose RJD had been part of the governing coalition before withdrawing and then extending support, had spoken on the Waqf Amendment bill tabled by the UPA II.
Quoting Mr Prasad, Amit Shah said, “We welcome the amendment bill presented by the government. I support the statements made by (BJP’s) Shahnawaz Hussain and others. Most of the land has been grabbed, be it government-owned or otherwise. People in the Waqf Board have sold all of the prime land. In Patna, apartments have been constructed on Dak Bungalow property. There has been a lot of loot like this.” Click Here For Parliament Live Updates
“We support the amendments, but we want you (the government) to bring in a strict law in the future and put such people behind bars,” the minister quoted the RJD chief as having said.
A smiling Mr Shah then pointed to the opposition benches and said, “Lalu Prasad’s wishes were not fulfilled by them, but Narendra Modi is doing it. Lalu ji had asked for a stricter law.”
The Home Minister also said that the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, was not against any religion and that the Congress and other opposition parties were spreading misconceptions on it in the interest of vote-bank politics.
BJP Vs Opposition
The discussion on the Waqf Bill, which began on Wednesday afternoon, saw strong speeches by other leaders as well. Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju claimed the Congress had made “questionable” changes to Waqf laws when it was in power and the UPA government led by it would have even given the Parliament to the Waqf if it was not stopped.
“If we had not introduced this amendment today, even the building we are sitting in could have been claimed as Waqf property. If Prime Minister Modi’s government did not come to power, several other properties would also have been de-notified,” Mr Rijiju said.
Congress MP, and the party’s deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, Gaurav Gogoi hit back at the government, claiming that it was issuing “religious certificates” by introducing the provision that donations could only be made by Muslims who had been practicing their faith for at least five years.
Launching a ‘4D’ attack on the BJP, Mr Gogoi said, “This bill is an attack on the basic structure of our Constitution, an attack on our federal structure, and has four objectives – to dilute the Constitution, defame minority communities, divide Indian society, and disenfranchise minorities.”
