Waqf Amendment bill aimed at polarisation, will prove to be waterloo for BJP: Akhilesh Yadav in LS
New Delhi (PTI): Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday said in the Lok Sabha that the Waqf Amendment Bill is aimed at polarisation and will send a wrong message to the world denting the country's secular image.
Participating in a debate on the bill in the Lower House, Yadav alleged that the bill has been introduced to manage BJP's "diminishing" vote bank and will prove to be a "waterloo" for the BJP as some members might be claiming to support the bill but inside they are not happy about the development.
The Kannauj MP also claimed that the bill is being brought to divert attention from the "land capture" by China.
"Bringing Waqf Bill is the BJP's political game, it is a new form of their communal politics. The BJP wants to appease those supporters who are now distancing themselves from the party because of its policies.
"As there has been a drop in the vote share, especially in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP has been trying to manage votes and this bill is being introduced for managing votes," he said.
"BJP wants the Muslim community to feel that their rights are being attacked and the party gets to indulge in politics of polarisation because that is their agenda," he alleged.
According to the government, the bill seeks to improve the functioning of Waqf properties, address complexities, ensure transparency and introduce technology-driven management.
Tabling the Bill, which was examined and redrafted by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the legislation has nothing to do with religion, but deals only with properties.
In his speech, Yadav demanded that the Centre should guarantee that Waqf land would not be given for other purposes using any tactics.
"Neither the policy nor the intent behind the Waqf Amendment Bill is right. This is a conspiracy to snatch lands and houses of crores of people.
"The BJP is an undemocratic party, it considers dissent as its strength. When majority political parties in the country are against it, why is the government adamant on bringing this bill," he said.
"This bill will prove to be a waterloo for BJP because many members who are supporting right now are doing it from outside and inside they are not convinced about it," he added.
Yadav claimed that the bill would dent the country's secular image.
"This bill will send a wrong message to the world and will dent India's secular image," he said.
He also alleged that the bill is being introduced to divert attention from the deaths at the Mahakumbh and the "land being captured by China".
"They (BJP) are saying that whether it is Railways land or Defence's, it is India's land. The issue bigger than Waqf land is the land where China has set up its villages. But to avoid any questions or uproar about the potential dangers, this (Waqf Amendment) bill is being introduced," he said.
"They also want to divert attention from the deaths in Mahakumbh that they claim are only 30 even as at least 1,000 people are still missing," he said.
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'Last rites' of INDIA bloc: BJP on Cong-DMK fallout in Tamil Nadu
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Wednesday took a swipe at the Congress for extending support to Vijay's TVK in forming the government in Tamil Nadu and breaking away from its long term ally DMK, saying the party has a history of "betraying" its allies.
The saffron party also attacked the opposition INDIA bloc, claiming the alliance is "falling apart like a pack of cards" and lacks any common ideology or vision.
The Tamil Nadu Congress has decided to support TVK leader Vijay in forming a secular government in the state, sources said.
The decision to support the TVK was taken at an urgent meeting of the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) of Tamil Nadu Congress late on Tuesday night.
Reacting to the development, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla claimed the INDIA alliance had effectively come to an end after the declaration of assembly election results on May 4.
"There is nobody whom the Congress has not deceived. Imagine what they will do to the Samajwadi Party if they have done this to the DMK," he wrote in a post on X.
Calling it the "last rites" of the INDIA bloc, Poonawalla, in a video post, said, "It has become a Bharat free of the DMK, TMC and the Left, and now Congress has dumped the DMK for the TVK."
The BJP spokesperson alleged that the opposition bloc was formed solely out of political compulsions and personal ambitions.
"The INDI alliance never had any mission or vision. It was only about ambition for position, corruption, commission and obsession against Modi ji that they came together. But now it is all falling apart like a pack of cards," he said.
Questioning the unity of the opposition parties, Poonawalla said the alliance was absent in several states during the election.
"Where was the INDI alliance in Bengal, in Kerala, in Gujarat, in Punjab, in Delhi, in Haryana, in Karnataka? There is no INDI alliance," he said.
The DMK on Wednesday described the Congress move to extend support to TVK as a "backstab" by its long-time national ally.
Speaking to PTI videos, DMK spokesperson Saravanan Anadurai said, "The Congress party has decided to ally with the TVK, pledging their support to the party. I think they have backstabbed... They have backstabbed the people of Tamil Nadu. They've backstabbed the mandate given by the people of Tamil Nadu."
He said that the decision came even before the electoral process had fully concluded.
"Even before the ink on the returning officer's signature on the victory certificate dried up, they've chosen to go ahead with an alliance," he said.
Vijay's TVK won 108 seats in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly, falling short of the halfway mark. He needs the support of 10 MLAs to form a government with a simple majority. The results were declared only on Monday.
The Congress has won five seats, while the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) has bagged four seats. The CPI and CPI-M have two seats each. The outgoing ruling party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), has won 59 seats while the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) has won 47 seats.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won only one seat, and so have the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) and the Amma Makkal Munnettra Kazagam (AMMK), while the VCK has won two seats.
The Congress had fought the assembly polls in a pre-poll alliance with the DMK, while the BJP had a tie-up with the AIADMK.
