'Brazen assault on Constitution': Sonia Gandhi slams Waqf Amendment Bill, says BJP bulldozed law through Parliament

Sonia Gandhi addresses a meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party in New Delhi on Thursday. (Source: X/@INCIndia)

Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Thursday came down heavily on the Bharatiya Janata Party on the issue of the Waqf Amendment Bill, a legislation she termed a "brazen assault on the Constitution of India".

Addressing the CPP General Body meeting at the Central Hall of Parliament, Gandhi said that the "Bill was bulldozed through" and claimed it to be part of a deliberate strategy of the BJP to cause polarization in society.

"Yesterday, the Waqf Amendment Bill, 2024 was passed in the Lok Sabha and today it is scheduled to come up in the Rajya Sabha. The bill was in effect bulldozed through. Our party’s position is clear. The Bill is a brazen assault on the Constitution itself. It is very much part of the BJP’s deliberate strategy to keep our society in a state of permanent polarization," Sonia Gandhi said.

The CPP chairperson also referred to the One Nation, One Election Bill and said it was "another subversion of the Constitution".

"We strongly oppose this legislation as well," she said referring to the Narendra Modi government's ONOE plan.

The CPP meeting held in Delhi was attended by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and other Congress MPs.

The meeting came a day after the Waqf Amendment Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha in the early hours of Thursday after a 12-hour-long debate with 288 MPs voting in its favour and 232 voting against it.

The Bill is now scheduled to come up in the Rajya Sabha for discussion and passage today. A similar duration of 8 hours has been allocated for discussion before it is taken up for passage.

The hours-long debate saw the ruling NDA defending the legislation as beneficial for minorities and dismissing the Opposition's allegations that sought to paint it as the BJP government's interference in the religious affairs of Muslims.

The opposition described the Bill as "anti-Muslim". It was passed after all amendments moved by the opposition members were rejected by voice votes.

The revised bill was brought by the government after incorporating recommendations of the Joint Parliamentary Committee, which examined the legislation that was introduced in August last year. The Mussalman Wakf (Repeal) Bill, 2024 has also been passed in the Lok Sabha. The debate in the Lok Sabha lasted almost 12 hours.