Waqf Bill to be introduced in Parliament's ongoing session: Amit Shah
New Delhi, Mar 28 (PTI): Union Home Minister Amit Shah made it clear on Friday that the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, which was referred to a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) in August 2024, will be reintroduced in the current session of Parliament.
Only four working days are left for the ongoing budget session to come to an end on April 4.
"We will introduce the Waqf Bill in Parliament within this session," Shah said at the "Times Now Summit 2025".
He said no one should be afraid of the proposed legislation as the Narendra Modi government is amending the Waqf Act in accordance with the ambit of the Constitution.
"The opposition is misleading Muslims. No rights of Muslims will be curbed. They are just telling lies after lies," he said.
The home minister said the government had to bring the amendment bill to the existing law as the original legislation was enacted due to the politics of appeasement.
He claimed that the Congress had made rules in the Waqf Act that were not in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution.
"We have aligned the Waqf Bill within the ambit of the Constitution, while the Congress had twisted the law for its political advantage," he said.
Shah said the BJP-led NDA government is working in a way that the legislation can be challenged in courts.
"A Bill cannot be above the spirit of the Constitution. We are making it in such a way that its decisions can be challenged in courts. Even government orders are challenged in courts. Laws enacted by us like the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) were also challenged in courts. Parliament's decision to scrap Article 370 (of the Constitution) was also challenged," he said.
Shah said the Waqf Board has declared 123 prime locations in Delhi as Waqf properties and the historic Chandrashekhar Azad Park in Prayagraj, where Azad sacrificed his life, has also been declared a Waqf property.
He said according to the existing law, enacted by the Congress, these decisions could not even be challenged in courts.
On the protests against the Bill, the home minister said everyone has a right to protest and any dispute can be challenged in courts.
"They are free to protest. If the Bill is not within the ambit of the Constitution, it can be challenged in courts," he said.
The Union Cabinet recently approved the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, incorporating the changes recommended by the JPC, paving the way for it to be tabled in Parliament for a discussion and passage.
The Bill was referred to the JPC in August 2024, after it was introduced in the Lok Sabha by Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju.
The parliamentary panel adopted the report with a majority vote, while all 11 MPs from opposition parties in the panel had objected to it.
They had also moved dissent notes. The 655-page report was submitted to both Houses of Parliament earlier this month.
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TVK falls short within touching distance; what next to ensure majority
Chennai (PIT): With TVK falling 10 short of a majority, its leader Vijay has the option of forming a minority government in Tamil Nadu without any outside support, analysts said on Tuesday.
Senior political analyst Sumanth Raman told PTI that the TVK is likely to opt to be a minority government with outside support.
"Since it is the single largest party, TVK has the option to go for that. I don't think he (Vijay) will opt for official support from other political party's MLAs", he said.
"If he opts for minority government, the only thing is that, Vijay will have to prove the support once again after six months".
Raman also pointed out that in 2006 when DMK won only 92 seats, the then party president, the late M Karunanidhi formed a minority government with outside support.
In a completely unexpected turn of events in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, the TVK has emerged victorious, putting an end to the almost six decade-long dominance of the two major Dravidian parties--DMK and AIADMK.
By clinching victory in its debut electoral contest, the party has elevated its status to that of a recognised political entity. However, the Vijay-led TVK did not secure a mandate large enough to form a government with an absolute majority on its own, requiring another 10 to cross the finish line. Experts have varied opinions.
Specifically, to attain a simple majority, a political party must win at least 118 out of the total 234 constituencies. The TVK, however, secured victory in 108 constituencies. Given that the TVK fell short of the majority mark, what might unfold next?
TVK leader Vijay has won in both constituencies he contested--Perambur in Chennai and Tiruchirappalli East. As per the election commission rule, he will have to resign from one of these seats. TVK sources said that the leader is likely to surrender the Tiruchirappalli assembly seat.
If Vijay does so, the party's total tally of seats will decrease by one. Then it will be 107. Adding to the number games, TVK appointed Speaker of the Assembly will be ineligible to cast a vote during a confidence motion and the party's effective voting strength will be reduced by yet another seat, which comes to 106.
Accordingly, the TVK requires the support of an additional 12 members to demonstrate its majority. As of now, within the DMK alliance, the Congress party has secured five seats, the two Communist parties have won two seats each (totaling four), while the DMDK has secured one seat, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) has won two seats and the VCK has secured two seats.
Within the AIADMK alliance, the PMK has grabbed four seats, the BJP has won one seat, and the AMMK has secured one seat. Going by the calculations, if TVK gets the support of other parties within both alliances, it would gain an additional 21 seats.
TVK could potentially secure a total of 129 seats (108 + 21). However, the TVK does not require the support of all those parties, and the backing of just 12 members would suffice.
As Vijay is expected to visit Lok Bhavan on Wednesday (May 6) to meet the governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar to stake claim to form government, the governor is expected to offer the TVK two options.
First, he may summon the TVK chief and instruct him to demonstrate his majority on the floor of the legislative assembly. Alternatively, he might ask Vijay to gather letters of support from "allied" parties and submit them to him.
If the TVK secures support exceeding 118 seats, the governor would invite the party form the government. If TVK fails to garner support from other political parties, it will be denied the opportunity to form the government.
In such a scenario, the governor has the option to invite the DMK, the party holding the second-highest number of seats to form the government.
If DMK too is unable to form a government, the state of Tamil Nadu will come under governor's rule for the subsequent six months. Following this period, fresh legislative Assembly elections will be once again held across all 234 constituencies.
Another political analyst Durai Karuna ruled out that TVK will go for a minority government.
"If he (Vijay) gives an appeal, many political parties including Congress, VCK and left parties will join TVK", he claimed. "In addition, the AIADMK, which has decided to organise MLAs meeting on Wednesday, might also announce that it would support TVK unconditionally".
He said a clear picture on Vijay's decision will emerge in a couple of days.
Tharasu Shyam, political critic, claimed that Congress was "holding talks with Vijay."
"From now on, the DMK must change its approach and this applies equally to the AIADMK," he said in an apparent reference to some reported difference of opinion between allies DMK and Congress over seat-sharing and power-sharing ahead of the April 23 polls.
Incidentally, AICC in-charge for Tamil Nadu, Girish Chodankar, on Tuesday admitted that the Congress party leadership's decision to stick with the DMK alliance went against strong grassroots sentiment favouring the TVK.
"The local leaders, the grassroots level leaders, were suggesting if Rahul Gandhi, who has a large acceptance in Tamil Nadu, joins the campaign with Vijay, it will create a big impact and we can sweep the Tamil Nadu polls, and get somewhere around 180-190 seats," Chodankar told PTI Videos.
