Waqf Amendment Bill: JPC with 31 Members, Including 10 from Rajya Sabha; Owaisi, SP’s Mohibbullah, and Congress’s Imran Masood Included
On Friday, August 9th, the Lok Sabha approved the proposal to form a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for the Waqf Amendment Bill. The committee will consist of 31 members, with 21 from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha. The committee is expected to submit its report during the first week of the next session of Parliament.
Kiren Rijiju, the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Minority Affairs, presented the proposal in the Lok Sabha to refer the bill to the JPC. A day earlier, on Thursday, August 8th, Rijiju had introduced the Waqf Bill 2024 in the Lok Sabha.
Opposition parties, including the Congress and Samajwadi Party, opposed the bill, calling it anti-Muslim. Despite the opposition and strong protests, the bill was sent to the JPC without any discussion in the Lok Sabha.
Lok Sabha Members Included in the JPC
The following Lok Sabha members have been included in the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for the Waqf Amendment Bill:
- Jagdambika Pal (BJP)
- Nishikant Dubey (BJP)
- Tejasvi Surya (BJP)
- Aparajita Sarangi (BJP)
- Sanjay Jaiswal (BJP)
- Dilip Saikia (BJP)
- Abhijit Gangopadhyay (BJP)
- Smt. D.K. Aruna (YSRCP)
- Gaurav Gogoi (Congress)
- Imran Masood (Congress)
- Mohammad Jawed (Congress)
- Maulana Mohibbullah (Samajwadi Party)
- Kalyan Banerjee (TMC)
- A. Raja (DMK)
- L.S. Devarayalu (TDP)
- Dileshwar Kamait (JDU)
- Arvind Sawant (Shiv Sena – Uddhav faction)
- Suresh Gopinath (NCP – Sharad Pawar)
- Naresh Ganpat Mhaske (Shiv Sena – Shinde faction)
- Arun Bharti (LJP-R)
- Asaduddin Owaisi (AIMIM)
Rijiju Claims Several Opposition MPs Support the Bill
On August 8th, Union Minister for Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju introduced the Waqf (Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha. The bill was immediately referred to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the same day. Rijiju stated that many opposition MPs support the bill, noting that while individuals express their support privately, they are unable to voice it publicly due to party constraints.
Congress MP K.C. Venugopal criticized the government, accusing it of attempting to create conflicts between communities. AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi condemned the bill, arguing that the central government is not uniting the country but dividing it. He claimed that the bill is proof that the government is hostile towards Muslims.
