BJP gets allies on board, Waqf Bill likely to sail through in Lok Sabha

The Centre will table the Waqf Amendment Bill in Lok Sabha at 12 noon on Wednesday. (File Photo: PTI)

Coalition partners of the ruling National democratic Alliance are likely to support the Waqf Amendment Bill set to be tabled in Lok Sabha at 12 noon on Wednesday despite citing concerns over certain provisions of the proposed legislation.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, which has 240 Lok Sabha MPs in the Lower House, requires the support of at least 32 more lawmakers to get the Bill passed. The Telugu Desam Party (16) and the Janata Dal (United), cumulatively accounting for 28 MPs, have already signaled their intent to back the Centre on the Bill, taking the NDA's tally to 268 MPs.

#WATCH | Delhi: Waqf Amendment Bill to be introduced in Lok Sabha todayUnion Minister of Minority Affairs, Kiren Rijiju says, "Today is a historic day and today the Waqf Amendment Bill will be introduced in the Lok Sabha and this bill is being introduced in the interest of the pic.twitter.com/l38Oxy4549

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The BJP also has the support of the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) with 5 MPs; the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena with 7; the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) and Jana Sena Party (JSP) with 2 MPs each; and the NCP, Apna Dal, Hindustani Awam Morcha, All Jharkhand Students’ Union and Northeast parties AGP, UPPL and SKM with one MP each.

The support from the NDA allies takes the government's overall tally to 293 in the 542-member House where it requires the support of at least 272 MPs to get the Bill passed.

The TDP and the JD(U), which had earlier supported the Bill when it was tabled in the Lok Sabha last year, had cited concerns around certain provisions. Both parties are likely to move amendments but have said that they will support the Bill in Lok Sabha.

While the TDP is likely to move an amendment demanding changes to the provision on inclusion of non-Muslims in the state Waqf boards to leave it to the discretion of state governments, the JD(U) maintains that it is against any retrospective implementation of the revised law.

The Waqf Bill, with amendments recommended by the 31-member Joint Committee of Parliament, will be taken up for consideration at 12 noon on Wednesday in the Lok Sabha. A duration of eight hours has been set aside for discussion on the Bill, following which Minorities Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju will reply to the debate and seek the approval of the House for its passage.

The Opposition, which is trying to put up a united front in Lok Sabha, is likely to all short of the numbers even if it calls for a division of votes. Opposition parties that said they would oppose the Bill in Parliament include Congress (99 MPs), Samajwadi Party (37), Trinamool Congress (28), DMK (22), Shiv Sena-UBT (9), NCP-SP (8), CPI-M (4), RJD (4), Aam Aadmi Party (3), JMM (3), IUML (3), and J-K National Conference (2), and 13 others.

The YSRCP with 4 MPs and the AIMIM and Aazad Samaj Party (1 MP each) have also announced they would vote against the Bill. The tally of the Opposition in Lok Sabha thus stands at 241, well short of the numbers required to stall the passage of the Bill in Parliament.