Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is in a state of excitement after his landslide victory in the Maharashtra elections, is preparing to move aggressively on the crucial Waqf Board Act Amendment Bill. Prime Minister Modi has made sensational comments after winning Maharashtra that Waqf has no place in the Constitution.
Already this bill was placed in the agenda of the Parliament winter session, which started on Monday. TDP supremo and AP Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, who is a crucial ally of the Narendra Modi-led government seems to be in a dilemma in extending support to this bill.
Modi is trying to amend the Waqf Board Act, which has been in force since nearly half a century, and transfer a large amount of Waqf lands to the government. As part of this, this bill, which was introduced in Parliament, faced a setback from the very beginning.
Chandrababu’s TDP, as well as many NDA partners and opposition parties opposed it. The Center, which did not dare to introduce the Waqf Bill in the Rajya Sabha due to the opposition it faced in the Lok Sabha, has sent it for scrutiny by the Joint Parliamentary Committee.
Now, after the report of the JPC scrutiny is out, they are going to block it and bring this bill before the Lok Sabha once again. However, this is going to be embarrassing for Chandrababu Naidu, who has been voting for not doing anything against the interests of Muslims.
The TDP leaders, who have already held meetings at the field level on this bill and campaigned that this bill went to the JPC because of them, now do not know what to say in Parliament. If they oppose the bill, they will definitely face the wrath of Modi and Shah.
On the other hand, the YSRCP is strongly opposing this bill. With this, Chandrababu’s stance on this bill has become politically crucial for that party in AP. After the all party meeting on Sunday, TDP’s union minister K Ramamohan Naidu said that they want to take the concerns of Muslims into consideration before finalising the Wakf Bill.