Opposition MPs boycott Waqf committee meeting over allegations against Kharge
New Delhi, Oct 14: Several opposition MPs on Monday boycotted a meeting of the parliamentary committee examining the Waqf (Amendment) Bill alleging that the panel is not functioning in accordance with rules, after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge was accused by a deposer of being involved in Waqf land scams.
The lengthy meetings of the Joint Committee of Parliament have been marked by the exchange of heated words between its BJP and opposition members, and things turned especially stormy on Monday as the latter questioned the rationale behind calling members of Hindu groups for deposition on a law concerning Muslims.
Opposition MPs walked out in protest against the submission of Anwar Manippady, a former chairman of the Karnataka State Minorities Commission and the Karnataka Minorities Development Corporation. He is also a former Karnataka BJP vice-president.
Manippady named several Congress leaders from Karnataka, including Kharge and Rehman Khan, and others for their alleged involvement in embezzling Waqf properties.
The opposition MPs cited rules regulating the parliamentary committees' proceedings to claim that "unproven allegations" against "high dignitaries" cannot be made at the meetings of these panels. Manippady, they said, also made an appeal to Muslims not to oppose the Bill, which too was out of line.
An opposition MP said allegations cannot be levelled against someone who is not there to defend himself.
The chairperson of the committee, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jagdambika Pal, however, overruled their objections and allowed the deposition to continue.
A BJP member said the deposition was relevant to the Bill as Manippady's claims pertained to Waqf properties.
Opposition MPs, including Gaurav Gogoi and Imran Masood of the Congress, A Raja of the DMK, Arvind Sawant of the Shiv Sena (UBT), AIMIM's Asaduddin Owaisi, Samajwadi Party's Mohibbullah and Sanjay Singh of the Aam Aadmi Party, stormed out of the meeting and expressed strong sentiments against its proceedings.
The committee is not functioning in accordance with rules and regulations, Sawant told reporters.
The opposition members held a separate meeting later to decide their next course of action. They are expected to write to the Lok Sabha speaker on Tuesday over the panel's functioning.
The committee had called several organisations and activists associated with Hindu causes for deposition, a move that drew protest from the opposition members. They raised objections to Hindu organisations being called to express their views, contending that they have no say in Waqf issues, which concern Muslims.
Sources in the ruling BJP, however, said these organisations and activists have been raising the issue of how the Waqf law impacts non-Muslim properties, including those belonging to temples. They must have a say when the committee has decided to hold such an extensive consultation, they added.
The sources said Owaisi has written to Pal over the invitation sent to Sanatan Sanstha and Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, alleging that these organisations follow extremist ideologies. These organisations' stated goal is to install a "Hindu rashtra" and they have openly "pursued violent means and made calls for insurrectionary activities against the Union of India," the Hyderabad MP has alleged in his letter to Pal.
Others called for deposition by the committee included lawyers Vishnu Shankar Jain and Ashwini Upadhyay and "Mahant" Sudhirdas Maharaj of the Kalaram temple in Maharashtra's Nashik.
Mehmood Madani of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind also appeared before the committee. His organisation has been opposed to the proposed amendments in the Waqf Bill.
#WATCH | Delhi: All opposition MPs boycotted the meeting of Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on Waqf Bill.
— ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2024
The members alleged that Anwar Manippadi, former Chairman, Karnataka State Minorities Commission and Karnataka Minorities Development Corporation, whose presentation is… pic.twitter.com/2IuDy61YnR
VIDEO | "We are boycotting the meeting because they are not functioning ethically. Principally, they are wrong," says Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Arvind Sawant (@AGSawant) on opposition members boycotting meeting of Joint Parliamentary Committee on Waqf Amendment bill.
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 14, 2024
(Full video… pic.twitter.com/QpEM2DppI1
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Will vacate one of two assembly seats won in 10 days: BJP''s Suvendu
Kolkata (PTI): BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, who defeated West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipur and secured Nandigram for three times in a row in the recent assembly polls, said on Wednesday that he would vacate one of the two constituencies within 10 days.
Adhikari also asserted that the party's central leadership would decide which constituency he would retain.
"I will vacate one seat within 10 days. The party will decide which one I retain. I will not forget my responsibility towards the people of Bhabanipur and Nandigram," he said.
Adhikari on Monday defeated Banerjee in Bhabanipur by over 15,000 votes, puncturing what was long seen as her safest political refuge and delivering a decisive psychological blow to the TMC, amid a sweeping BJP surge across West Bengal.
Addressing party workers and supporters in Nandigram in Purba Medinipur district, the BJP leader appealed to them not to take out victory processions immediately and instead maintain peace.
"Do not take out victory rallies now. Maintain peace and discipline. Celebrate after May 9, after taking permission," he told party workers.
State BJP president Samik Bhattacharya on Wednesday announced that the oath-taking ceremony of the new government will be held on May 9 at Brigade Parade Ground.
Referring to alleged attacks on BJP workers during the TMC regime, Adhikari said he would not forget the “atrocities" faced by them and assured them of taking appropriate action against perpetrators through legal processes.
"I was part of the 2011 ‘poribartan’ (change), and now I am part of the real change. I offer my gratitude to the people of Nandigram," Adhikari said.
He was referring to the TMC's victory in 2011 when the Mamata Banerjee party dismantled the 34-year Left Front regime in the state.
Adhikari offered prayers at a Hanuman statue in Nandigram and remembered the BJP workers, who had died in political violence.
"We will work in such a way that the BJP government in Bengal stays for 100 years," he said, expressing hope that the BJP’s vote share in the state would rise from the current 46 per cent to 60 per cent in future elections.
The BJP leader also assured residents of Nandigram of improved drinking water supply and better hospital and education infrastructure.
