Asserting that misconceptions are being spread on the Waqf bill by some parties to shore up their vote banks, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said that, through the proposed legislation, PM Narendra Modi is fulfilling the wishes of RJD chief Lalu Prasad while the opposition had failed to do so.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, Mr Shah insisted that the new legislation may not have been necessary if the Waqf (Amendment) Act had not been passed in 2013 – when the Congress-led UPA II was in power – just months before the Lok Sabha elections the following year.
At the time, Lalu Prasad, whose RJD had been part of the governing coalition before withdrawing and then extending support, had spoken on the Waqf Amendment bill tabled by the UPA II.
Quoting Mr Prasad, Amit Shah said, “We welcome the amendment bill presented by the government. I support the statements made by (BJP’s) Shahnawaz Hussain and others. Most of the land has been grabbed, be it government-owned or otherwise. People in the Waqf Board have sold all of the prime land. In Patna, apartments have been constructed on Dak Bungalow property. There has been a lot of loot like this.”
“We support the amendments, but we want you (the government) to bring in a strict law in the future and put such people behind bars,” the minister quoted the RJD chief as having said.
A smiling Mr Shah then pointed to the opposition benches and said, “Lalu Prasad’s wishes were not fulfilled by them, but Narendra Modi is doing it. Lalu ji had asked for a stricter law.”
The Home Minister also said that the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, was not against any religion and that the Congress and other opposition parties were spreading misconceptions on it in the interest of vote-bank politics.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said that, through the Waqf bill, PM Narendra Modi is fulfilling the wishes of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav while the opposition had failed to do so.
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