Waqf amendment bill live: BJP MPs to meet shortly ahead of Lok Sabha debate

PArliament session unrecorded: The disputatious Waqf (Amendment) note, 2024, testament be taken up for word and passage in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, with the House set to witness a showdown between the government and Opposition.The bill will be tabled after the Question House for consideration and passing. Parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju had told reporters that the Lok Sabha's business advisory committee (BAC) chaired by Speaker Om Birla agreed on an eight-hour debate, which would be extended after understanding the situation of the House.Senior BJP leaders, including home minister Amit Shah, are likely to take part in the discussion on the bill, news agency PTI reported, citing sources.Both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress have issued whips to their MPs to ensure their presence in the House. Key NDA allies Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Janata Dal (United), Shiv Sena and LJP (Ram Vilas), also issued whips to their leaders, asking them to back the government's stance.While the future of the bill's passage remains unknown, it is notable that the BJP-led NDA has 293 MPs in the Lok Sabha, which has a strength of 542 MPs.Reportedly, TDP, JD(U) and Chirag Paswan-led LJP (Ram Vilas) had initially expressed some reservations over the bill, they seem to have become more accepting after the parliamentary committee's adoption of a few of their insights.The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024The controversial bill, introduced in the Lok Sabha in August 2024, proposes 40 amendments to the provisions of the Waqf Act.The amendments suggested modifications such as Muslim women and non-Muslim representation in the Waqf boards and sweeping changes in the regulation and governance of India's Waqf boards.The bill to amend the Waqf Act, 1995, will make it mandatory for Waqf boards to register their properties with district collectors to ensure their actual valuation. At present, the majority of the Waqf board members are elected, but once the new Bill formally becomes a law, all the members will be nominated by the government.As per the 1995 Act, Waqf means “the permanent dedication of movable or immovable property for the purposes enshrined in Islam as pious, religious, or charitable."Parliament session | Key pointsThe Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, is set to be taken up for discussion and passage in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. The bill is likely to go before the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. Both the Houses have been allocated eight workers each for debating the proposed amendments.A day before the discussion, the opposition INDIA bloc on Tuesday presented a united face and discussed their joint strategy to oppose the Waqf bill. Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and KC Venugopal, Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav, NCP leader Supriya Sule, TMC's Kalyan Banerjee, and AAP's Sanjay Singh were among those in attendance at the meetingOpposition leaders have been contesting the bill, describing it as "unconstitutional".Following its presentation in the Lok Sabha last year, following which a Parliamentary Committee was formed under the leadership of Jagdambika Pal for further consideration.