LIVE | Rajya Sabha passes Waqf Bill (128-95)

Surprising to see party which engages in Hindu-Muslim politics concerned about Muslims: Harsimrat Kaur Badal

Shiromani Akali Dal's Harsimrat Kaur Badal says she had been listening to the discussion in complete surprise because a party that for the past three terms has not had a single Muslim MP, a party that only does politics of Hindu-Muslim, Pakistan, day and night has become so concerned about welfare of Muslims. 

#WATCH | #WaqfAmendmentBill | BJP MP Tejasvi Surya says, "The concept of Section 40 - Waqf by User and Oral Waqf was a potent cocktail that enabled the Waqf Board to usurp any land that it wished. Those who had a problem with this were forced to go before the Waqf Tribunal. This… pic.twitter.com/Lr3FedezzG

— ANI (@ANI) April 2, 2025

VIDEO | “Waqf (Amendment) Bill: “The question is that it is being tabled in the Parliament after it is being opposed by us. The democratic values are being destroyed… We appeal to the political parties and secular people to stop this Bill from being passed. In case the Bill gets… pic.twitter.com/2Z8k6KTVQE

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) April 2, 2025

Congress opposing Waqf Bill but yet to set up Waqf Board, Haj Committee in HP: BJP

The Congress which is opposing the Waqf Bill has constituted neither a Waqf Board nor a Haj committee in the last two and a half years of being in power in Himachal Pradesh, BJP state minority cell president Bilal Ahmad Shah said on Wednesday.

Shah, who was a member of the state's Waqf Board under the previous BJP dispensation, welcomed the tabling of the Bill in Parliament.

"In the absence of a Waqf Board in Himachal Pradesh, rent issues are pending and people are being subjected to unnecessary trouble," he told the PTI.

He asserted that the previous BJP government constituted a state Waqf Board within one month of assuming charge.

"Huge properties are owned by the Waqf Board countrywide and still a large number of Muslims are living in poverty because nothing has been done for them and only a few people are reaping all the benefits," he said.

Shah, Akhilesh banter adds humour to feisty Waqf debate

The day-long debate on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill was enlivened by moments of banter involving Home Minister Amit Shah and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, as the BJP leader fired ripostes at the rival's bid to play at the ruling party's internal developments.

Yadav humorously asked Shah, who had just retorted to Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee's jibe during his intervention on the bill, to say something about Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath as well.

"He is also going to be repeated (in the next elections)," Shah said, triggering laughter all around.

The former Uttar Pradesh CM has often sought to make political points over Adityanath's alleged differences with BJP's central leaders and the internal affairs of the ruling party.

Earlier in the day, the SP chief had said in the Lok Sabha during his address that a big party like the BJP was unable to elect its national president.

"The BJP claims to be the largest party in India but it still has not decided on its leader," he said.

Shah rose to say that since Yadav had spoken with a smile, he would reply in the same spirit.

He then added, "In some parties, only five members of a family have to choose the president so it is easy and quick, but we have to elect (a president) following a process that involves crores of members, so it takes time." He said it would not take much time in Yadav's party. "Let me state that you will remain president for 25 more years," Shah said amid laughter from the members.

Yadav then cited social media buzz to wonder if a recent trip was linked to extending the 75 years of retirement age, an apparent reference to the BJP. He, however, did not elaborate.

A Raja, Asaduddin Owaisi object to Surya's assertion saying he is misleading the House with false claims

Surya's charges against Congress

Surya accuses the Congress of bringing the 1991 Places of Worship Act to deny Hindus rights over their land claimed by Muslims as places of worship but in 1995, the party brought the Waqf Act that allowed Muslims to claim any land belonging to places of worship of any other faith.

Last rites of Congress' appeasement politics: Anurag Thakur

BJP MP Anurag Thakur on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on the Congress in the Lok Sabha for opposing the Waqf bill, saying the proposed law would be the last nail in the coffin of Congress's politics of appeasement.

Participating in the debate on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025 in the Lower House, Thakur said the time has come to change the Waqf boards as they have become a "hub of corruption" and accused the Congress of once again creating an atmosphere of confusion in the country.

The Bill is not just for a change in law but a clear message -- that the country will be run only in accordance with the Constitution, he asserted.

Thakur alleged that the Waqf Board had to administer properties for the welfare of the Muslim community but the Congress and other opposition parties irresponsibly used the land to set up an empire which they used as their "vote bank ATM".

"You will have to decide whether you will stand with the Constitution or with Waqf," he said.

Waqf apparatus Frankenstein's monster created by Congress: Tejasvi Surya

BJP's Tejasvi Surya calls current Waqf apparatus a "Frankenstein's monster created by the Congress party" that was "wholly unconstitutional, illegal, extra-judicial" and that Waqf tribunals were "nothing but a kangaroo court".