Rajya Sabha Approves Waqf Bill

Waqf Bill: The Modi government at the Center has brought a bill to amend the Waqf Act 1995 to control the unlimited powers of the Waqf Board. This bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday and was approved after a long debate. On Thursday, this bill came before the Rajya Sabha and a long debate took place. During this debate, there was a fierce war of words between the ruling and opposition parties. The House continued till past midnight and then the vote was taken.

Waqf Bill

Amidst arguments from the ruling and opposition parties, the Waqf (Amendment) Bill-2025 was finally passed by Parliament. There was a long debate on this bill in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. The vote was taken after Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju replied. 128 people voted in favor of the bill and 95 against it. The debate on the Waqf Bill was held in the Rajya Sabha till midnight on Thursday. The House rejected the amendments made by the opposition parties. Union Minister Kiren Rijiju introduced the bill in the House and started the debate. He reiterated that this bill is intended to improve the functioning of the Waqf Board and increase transparency, and it is not anti-Muslim.

Kiren Rijiju says

“It is not the intention of our government to harm anyone’s religious beliefs,” he said. He said this bill aims to remove complications, bring transparency, and improve the functioning of the Waqf Board using technology. Rijiju stressed that this bill has nothing to do with religion. The minister revealed that Muslims from all sections will be brought into the Waqf Board. He brought to the notice of the House that the Waqf properties, which were 4.9 lakh in 2004, have now increased to 8.72 lakh. He urged the opposition to support this bill by bringing in the goals that were not fulfilled by the previous governments.

Minister Rijiju, who denied the allegations made by the opposition, clarified that the bill will not take away the rights of Muslims. He said that new provisions have been included to ensure that Shias, Sunnis, and other backward classes continue to be members of the Waqf Board. He answered the doubts raised over the composition of the Central Waqf Council, which will consist of 22 members. “The problem of non-Muslims being in the majority does not arise,” he said.

However, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), which had announced its opposition to the Waqf Amendment Bill the previous day, has taken a U-turn. It has opened the gates for voting in the Rajya Sabha. The party, which has not issued a whip to its MPs, has said that they will vote according to their conscience.

Rajyasabha approves?

But, in the Rajya Sabha, BJD MP Mujibullah Khan announced that he was opposing this bill. It is noteworthy that although the YSRCP also announced that it was opposing the bill, it did not issue a whip to its MPs. That party has seven members in the Rajya Sabha. Along with them, BRS, AIADMK and BSP did not issue a whip. If the ruling NDA has a numerical strength of 125 in the Rajya Sabha, then 128 votes were cast in favor of the bill. That means three more voted. With this, who are the three who voted in favor of the bill? It is not known.

Along with the Congress in the India alliance, 95 members including DMK, AAP, Shiv Sena (UBT), Left parties and TMC voted against the bill. There are currently 236 members in the 252-member Rajya Sabha. Only 223 were present on Thursday. The remaining 13 did not miss the meeting. Who are these 13? It is yet to be known which party they belong to. It is believed that they are members of parties that have not issued a whip.

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