Allies to go with Waqf Bill despite ‘concerns’, NDA numbers far ahead: 293 to 241

While the BJP itself has 240 members, the allies on its side are the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) with 16 MPs; Janata Dal (United) with 12 MPs; Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) with 5; the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena with 7; the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) and JanaSena Party (JSP), with 2 MPs each; and the NCP, Apna Dal, Hindustani Awam Morcha, All Jharkhand Students’ Union and Northeast parties AGP, UPPL and SKM with one 1 MP each.

The JD(U) and TDP have expressed concerns over certain provisions of the Bill, but are expected to support it. Sources in these parties said their members may move amendments to certain clauses but will support the Bill.

The Opposition parties which have announced they will vote against the Bill are the Congress (99 MPs), Samajwadi Party (37), Trinamool Congress (28), DMK (22), Shiv Sena-UBT (9), NCP-SP (8), CPI-M (4), RJD (4), Aam Aadmi Party (3), JMM (3), IUML (3), and J-K National Conference (2), apart from 13 others.

Among the non-aligned parties opposed to the Bill, the AIMIM and Aazad Samaj Party have 1 MP each and the YSRCP 4.

Among NDA allies, while TDP sources told The Indian Express that it would seek changes in the provision that allows non-Muslims to become members in Waqf boards, JD(U) MP Sanjay Jha has said his party is against the application of any provision of the Bill retrospectively.

Jha, the JD(U) national working president, said Tuesday that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s work for the Muslim community has been “visible” for the “past 19 years”, and he has “never allowed anything against the Muslim community to happen”.

He said that JD(U) members had also made this stand clear in the Joint Committee of Parliament, that the provisions of the Bill “should not be implemented with retrospective effect, and there should be no effect on something which has been the way it is in the past”.

“We hope that the government will consider it,” Jha said.

A TDP leader told The Indian Express: “The party will unanimously demand that the representation of non-Muslims in Waqf boards be left to the discretion of the respective states.”

The source added that the party would support all other amendments to the Bill, including inclusion of women in Waqf boards. “That’s a progressive change.”

The Waqf Bill, with amendments recommended by the 31-member Joint Committee of Parliament, will be taken up for consideration at 12 noon on Wednesday in the Lok Sabha. Eight hours of discussion have been assigned to it, after which Minorities Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju is expected to reply to the debate and seek the approval of the House for its passage.

The Opposition had sought discussions lasting at least 12 hours.