The government’s decision to bring the waqf amendment bill for passage in the Lok Sabha has once again united the fragile INDIA group as their top-ranking leaders met on Wednesday and decided to engage in an all-out fight against the controversial legislation.
“All the Opposition parties are united and shall work together on the floor of the Parliament, to defeat the unconstitutional and divisive agenda of the Modi government on the Waqf Amendment Bill,” Congress president and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, tweeted after the meeting.
According to leaders present in the meeting, it was decided to use the floor of the House to voice the Opposition’s resentment against the bill, force division or voting to expose the Bharatiya Janata Party’s allies ahead of the Bihar elections, and to use every possible means to stall the bill.
Samajwadi Party MP Ram Gopal Yadav announced that the Opposition will participate in the debate. “We will stand united tomorrow and participate in discussions. We will support the amendments which will come from the Opposition and call for division and voting…” he said.
Congress’s general secretary and Lok Sabha MP KC Venugopal said after the meeting that at the introduction stage itself, the INDIA bloc and all like-minded parties had a clear-cut stand on it. “This bill is a targeted legislation and is fundamentally against the Constitutional provisions. We are going to oppose this bill… This is what has been decided unanimously by the INDIA parties. We request other like-minded parties also to vote against this bill…” he said.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP John Brittas said after the meeting, “INDIA alliance stand is clear on this matter, we will take a strong position against the bill. This bill is there to create polarisation in society…If Muslims are targeted today, other minority communities will be targeted tomorrow…”
The meeting, held at the new Parliament building, was attended by all major parties including the Trinamool Congress,the Dravida Munneta Kazhagam, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, teh Shiv Sena (UBT) and others. This is the first major meeting of the INDIA group after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The parties, however, coordinated among themselves on many issues such as the no-confidence motion against Rajya Sabha Chairman or the Elector Photo Identification Cards (EPIC) controversy .
“INDIA alliance parties had a discussion and it went well. We have categorically decided to fight as one body and one soul. We are united by all means and we will strongly fight this because there has been a lot of injustice, and we will fight it with tooth and nail… We will participate in the debate tomorrow,” said Indian Union Muslim League MP E.T Muhammed Basheer.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Arvind Sawant maintained that a joint parliamentary committee was formed for this bill, the Opposition stood united then, and it stood united now. “The provisions of the bill will divide the country,” he said.
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board has appealed to all secular political parties, including the BJP’s allies and members of Parliament, to strongly oppose the waqf amendment bill and to not vote in its favour, in any circumstances.