Marathon debate and a last-minute change of heart: What it took for Waqf Amendment Bill to get Rajya Sabha nod

The proposed legislation will be sent to be ratified by the President before it becomes a law.

In the early hours of Friday, the Rajya Sabha gave its nod to the Waqf (Amendment) Bill following a debate that lasted almost 13 hours. The legislation was passed in the Upper House with 128 votes in favour and 95 against.

The Rajya Sabha had assembled at 11 am on Thursday and took up the scheduled Zero Hour and Question Hour. At 1 pm, it took up the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025. It passed at around 2.30 am on Friday.

While the Opposition objected to the Bill calling it “anti-Muslim” and “unconstitutional”, the BJP-led government responded to it by referring to it as a “historic reform” that would benefit the minority community.

The NDA had 117 members, just two short of the majority figure of 119.

Other NDA members with representation in the House are Janata Dal (United) (four), Nationalist Congress Party (three), Telugu Desam Party (two) and one each from 10 other parties in the alliance.

On the other hand, the opposition INDIA bloc has 88 MPs in the Upper House: Congress (27), Trinamool Congress (13), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Aam Aadmi Party (10 each), Rashtriya Janata Dal (five), Samajwadi Party and CPI-M (four each), Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (three) and others.

As many as 23 MPs are from non-NDA and non-INDIA bloc parties.

The BJD took a step back from voting against the bill and said the decision was left to its MPs' “conscience”. The development came a day after the party announced that all its members would oppose the bill in Rajya Sabha.

The BJD said it would make the decision after taking the sentiments of the minority community into consideration. While the party has no members in the Lok Sabha, it has seven in Rajya Sabha.

“… We deeply respect the diverse sentiments expressed by different sections of the minority communities regarding the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024. Our party… has entrusted our Hon’ble Members in the Rajya Sabha with the responsibility of exercising their conscience in the best interest of justice, harmony and the rights of all communities, should the Bill come up for voting. There is no party whip,” BJD floor leader Sasmit Patra said.

The YSRCP also said it had not issued a whip to its members.

A spate of resignations has struck the JD(U), a key BJP ally, since the passage of the Waqf Amendment Bill in the Parliament.

JD(U)leaders Tabrez Siddiqui Alig and Dilshan Rayeen are the latest to leave JD (U), who backed the BJP in the Parliament on the Waqf Bill.

Earlier, senior leaders Mohammed Qasim Ansari and Mohammed Nawaz Malik resigned from the party.

Siddiqui posted a letter to the party chief and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on X. “Resignation from the position of State General Secretary and primary membership of the Janata Dal (United) party over the Waqf Amendment Bill,” he said.

The Lok Sabha had passed the bill with a 288-232 vote in the early hours of Thursday after a debate lasting over 12 hours.

The proposed legislation will be sent to be ratified by the President before it becomes a law.