During the Waqf Amendment Bill discussion Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray observed that the show of concern from BJP allies and their supporters made Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah proud.
The Biju Janata Dal led by Naveen Patnaik now expresses different opinions on the Waqf Amendment Bill which it initially rejected. Before the Lok Sabha presented the bill Shiv Sena declared its total opposition but moments before Rajya Sabha voting the party changed its stance.
The senior party member Sasmit Patra posted on social media X (former Twitter) that the party will refrain from enforcing official party positions this time.
Biju Janata Dal preserves secularism and inclusivity because it fights to protect rights of all communities. Our party profoundly acknowledges the various opinions from Minority community members about the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024,” the post declared.
Our Party now provides our Rajya Sabha Members with the freedom to use their conscious judgments when the Bill is presented for voting because we evaluated these viewpoints at length. The ruling party does not enforce disciplinary positions against its members stated the official in his correspondence.
A non-aligned party becomes the initial member to ditch their opposition alliance regarding this Bill. To date the opposition AIADMK party of Tamil Nadu and the YSR Congress have maintained their opposition stance.
The government maintains numerical superiority in the Rajya Sabha despite including those seven MPs. Among the 245 MPs in the current strength the NDA maintains 125 representatives which exceeds the number of members present on the other side by five.
The government will gain additional strength when members are allowed to use their personal beliefs to vote. In the Rajya Sabha the BJD party maintains seven parliamentary representatives.
The BJD kept an official stance of balanced relations between BJP and Congress until it began providing issue-specific backing to the BJP during parliamentary battles.
After the general and state elections last year the political scenario experienced fundamental shifts.
Mr Patnaik’s party ruled the state for three decades but received complete defeat at the hands of BJP which secured victory across all Lok Sabha seats and 78 of 147 assembly seats. During the latest elections The BJP secured 20 out of the 21 parliamentary seats in Odisha while winning 78 out of 147 seats in the state legislature.
Following that announcement Mr Patnaik stated his party would not give parliamentary backing to the BJP anymore.
The BJD nine-member parliamentarian group chose to follow the Opposition’s exit when Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed President’s thanksgiving remarks due to his Sonia Gandhi comments during the inaugural parliamentary meeting after elections.
BJD changed its support for “One Nation One Election” proposal by asking for the “fine print” details for the Kovind Committee plan adopted by the government cabinet before any further action while urging that this matter should not become another rushed policy like the farm laws.
How BJP Brought Chandrababu Naidu, Nitish Kumar On Board For Waqf Bill
Secular parties such as Telugu Desam Party under Chandrababu Naidu and Janata Dal United under Nitish Kumar decided to back the controversial Waqf Amendment Bill which surprised many observers in political arenas. The main reason for BJP to support this bill was to secure alliance partner support on critical issues as confirmed by inside sources.
These two parties TDP and JD(U) received strong Muslim backing and traditionally held different positions against the BJP on Muslim-related matters particularly Uniform Civil Code. Party sources revealed that behind-the-scenes discussions between BJP leadership’s discussions with these political parties led them to support the legislative bill.
The senior government ministers provided the TDP and JD(U) leadership with essential information about this bill before its August introduction. The political leaders from these supporting factions of Lok Janshakti and Rashtriya Lok Dal received detailed information about the bill which protected Muslim communities alongside women’s rights while addressing Opposition concerns about community divisions.
The broad ideas behind the bill met approval by the allies but their main disagreements involved the intended effect on current Waqf properties together with concerns about state governments’ constitutional powers.
The legislature forwarded the bill to the Joint Parliamentary Committee that incorporated fourteen crucial changes suggested by the JD(U) and TDP.
JD(U) members of parliament declared that the new legislation should not have retrospective effect since this would disrupt existing Muslim religious locations.
The legislative body demanded state consultation before Waqf land decisions because land rests as a state authority. Through their support of state autonomy the TDP proposed senior officials at levels higher than collectors to handle disputes and they wanted to extend uploading timeframes for portal documents related to Waqf.
The modified piece of legislation met the proposed suggestions which secured approval through the cabinet’s acceptance.
Leaders from JD(U) and TDP endorse the bill because they view it as beneficial for Muslim women together with vulnerable groups. The LJP along with RLD both endorsed the bill.
Amit Shah the home minister visited Lallan Singh and Sanjay Jha of JD(U) at the Parliament house to confirm that suggestions from their party had been added to the bill before its Lok Sabha introduction.
Lallan Singh defended the bill in the Lok Sabha despite Muslim doubts about its proposal. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s actions for Muslim welfare received multiple mentions by him during the parliamentary discussion because the state was set for electoral competition.
TDPS KP Tenneti announced through his congressional speech that Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu of Andhra Pradesh took actions to support Muslim communities.
The TDP showed backing for the legislation because it considered Muslim minority women along with young and disadvantaged social groups. During this period the BJP allies such as LJP together with the Hindustan Awam Morcha and the RLD supported the same position.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi continued his leadership approach by involving allies in the bill during his second to third term according to insider information.
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