After Waqf, BJP eying land of Christians, Jains, Buddhists and Hindu temples: Uddhav Thackeray
Mumbai, Apr 6 (PTI): Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday alleged that after rolling out the Waqf law, the BJP is now eying the land of Christians, Jains, Buddhists and even Hindu temples for their "friends".
NCP (SP) leader Jitendra Awhad also made a similar accusation, citing an article in the Organiser, the mouthpiece of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
Thackeray advised his former ally BJP, which is celebrating its 45th Foundation Day on Sunday, to “behave” in a way Lord Ram did.
“The next step (after Waqf law) would be to eye the land of Christians, Jains, Buddhists and even Hindu temples. They will give prime land to their friends. They have no love for any community,” he said.
President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday gave her assent to the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, which was passed by Parliament earlier this week. The government says the law will usher in reforms concerning Muslim religious endowments in the country.
"They have made it public and everyone should open their eyes,” Thackeray said, referring to the Organiser article, which appears to have since been unpublished.
Thackeray was speaking during the launch of the Shiv Sanchar Sena, which will be the party’s IT and communications wing.
When asked whether Sena (UBT) will approach the court over the Waqf Bill like other opposition parties did, he replied in the negative.
Thackeray's party colleague Sanjay Raut said that in future, all Waqf land will go to the “industrialist friends” of the BJP.
Raut said the BJP should not speak on poverty and claimed that money spent by it ahead of last year’s assembly elections was equivalent to the budget of Maharashtra.
Meanwhile, NCP (SP) leader Jitendra Awhad claimed that after targeting Muslims, it was now the turn of the Christians in the country.
In a post on X, the MLA from Kalwa-Mumbra constituency in Thane said the RSS mouthpiece has claimed that it is not the Waqf Board but the Catholic Church of India which is the largest landholder in the country.
According to him, the article titled ‘Who has more land in India? The Catholic Church vs Waqf Board Debate’ was published on April 3.
Awhad claimed on X that the article had said, “For many years, there has been a common belief that the Waqf Board is the second largest landowner in India after the government, however, this claim does not align with the actual data on land ownership in the country.”
The Catholic Church of India holds the distinction of being the largest non-governmental landowner, possessing vast tracts of land spread across the country, the NCP (SP) legislator said, citing the Organiser article.
As per Awhad, the article also said that the Catholic Church owns around 17.29 crore acres (7 crore hectares) of land across India.
“Much of its land was acquired during British rule. In 1927, the British administration passed the Indian Church Act, facilitating large-scale land grants to the Church,” Awhad wrote in his post, attributing it to the article.
The Organiser article also contended that whether some of the land was obtained through questionable means, he said.
The article assumes significance as it has come at a time when the Waqf Bill, passed by both Houses of Parliament, has triggered a fierce debate, he said.
“Organiser had opposed the Constitution and the Indian tricolour in 1950,” Awhad claimed, targeting the RSS-linked magazine.
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Post poll TN alliances divided in supporting TVK
Chennai (PTI): In a changed political atmosphere in Tamil Nadu with no single political party having a simple majority to form the government post the Assembly election, opinion is divided among the allies led by the Dravidian majors in extending external support to Vijay-led TVK in government formation.
Both the DMK and AIADMK are at unease as the Congress and also a section in the AIADMK express willingness to extend external support to Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagtam in forming the government.
Post poll, the TVK's political prospects appear to impact alliances led by both the Dravidian majors in a different manner, triggering a speculation of a split.
Leema Rose Martin, who won from Lalgudi on an AIADMK ticket, has stated that talks were underway on extending support to the TVK. Her son-in-law Aadhav Arjuna, who won from Villivakkam is TVK's general secretary.
On May 5, former AIADMK minister O S Manian, emerging from his meeting with party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, stated that AIADMK would not support TVK in forming the government.
The AIADMK, which finished third in the elections with 47 seats has cancelled its meeting of MLAs designate on Wednesday amidst a difference in extending external support to the TVK, which won 108 seats, including two seats by its founder Vijay.
As Vijay is gearing up for his swearing-in on May 7, the police have tightened security at his residence here. The party has lodged its MLA-elect at a resort in Mamallapuram and has simultaneously engaged in talks with the Congress and AIADMK, a source said.
The DMK that won 59 seats on its own, has convened a meeting of its newly elected legislators on May 7 evening and the party is likely to elect the youth wing secretary Udhayanidhi Stalin, who won from Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni as its legislature party leader.
Congress general secretary K C Venugopal admitted that TVK chief Vijay requested the Congress for support to form the government.
"The INC is clear that the mandate in Tamil Nadu is for a secular government, committed to protecting the Constitution in letter and spirit. The INC is determined not to allow the BJP and its proxies to run the government of Tamil Nadu in any manner. Thiru Vijay has also spoken about drawing inspiration from Perunthalaivar Kamaraj," he said.
Accordingly, the Congress leadership has directed the TNCC to take a final decision on Vijay’s request, keeping in view the sentiments of the state as reflected in the electoral verdict, Venugopal said in a statement.
DMK spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai slammed the Congress decision and said the move to ally with TVK, pledging the support of its five MLAs to the party, was tantamount to "backstabbing the DMK and the people of Tamil Nadu."
"They have betrayed the mandate given by the people. Even before the ink on the returning officer’s signature on the victory certificate has dried, they have chosen to go ahead with this alliance," he told PTI.
The most important question was who took this "foolhardy decision, and how is it going to backfire on the Congress?" he asked.
"I don’t think they had any serious deliberation on this. The larger issue is their opposition to the BJP, which is their ideological enemy. We have supported the Congress throughout. It was our leader M K Stalin, who named Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate when the BJP and RSS were criticising him. And now, within a day, they say they are supporting TVK. This is not the mandate of the people of Tamil Nadu,” Saravanan said.
The Congress' exit from its long-standing alliance with the DMK will be a significant moment in the political scenario of the state, commentator and political analyst Sumanth Raman said.
The Congress may be betting on the TVK as a long-term partner option, but that comes with risks, as the TVK is as yet an unknown quantity, he said.
"For the DMK, if the TVK+Congress becomes the choice of the minorities as it well could, it is an existential threat. It was the minority vote that gave the DMK alliance a 12%-15% cushion in the polls. If that goes, their chances of winning drops dramatically," Raman said on 'X.'
The Congress won 5 seats. However, DMK's other allies, the IUML, VCK, CPI and CPI (M) and DMDK have categorically stated that they would not support TVK.
As of now, the TVK requires the support of 11 MLAs to attain a simple majority of 118 to form the government.
The PMK, which won 4 seats and AMMK one - both allies of AIADMK - have not announced their decision yet.
"AIADMK’s real post-result drama may not be outside the party, but inside it. Whispers from the west and north suggest that a Coimbatore hand and a Villupuram voice may soon ask the question everyone is avoiding: Is it time to save the party from the leadership, before the cadre are forced to do it themselves? In politics, coups don’t begin with slogans. They begin with silence, phone calls and “review meetings,” Aspire Swaminathan, who is credited with founding the AIADMK IT wing in 2014, said on 'X.'
He has resigned from the AIADMK in 2021 and now acts an as independent political analyst.
