Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday expressed his surprise over Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi not taking part in the marathon debate on the Waqf Amendment Bill in the Lower House.
He suggested it could be a result of considerable pressure from the Christian community.
In an interview to news agency ANI, Rijiju said that Rahul Gandhi apparently wanted "to play safe game" by not taking part in the Waqf Amendment Bill debate.
"I was surprised. Even Priyanka Gandhi was not present during the voting. She was absent, and Rahul Gandhi came much later to vote. He didn't take part in the proceedings, nor did he speak. I feel that one of the reasons could be there is huge pressure from the Christian community for the Congress party and other MPs to support the Waqf Amendment Bill. That could be one of the reasons. Secondly, maybe, he wants to play a safe game because this bill is a landmark bill, and whatever you speak will remain as a record," Rijiju said, ANI reported.
Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, was passed by Parliament during the budget session after both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha sat past midnight to pass the bill. It was later given assent by President Droupadi Murmu.
"So he played a smart game, maybe. But for me, it's not a smart game. This is an important bill that the important leaders should have spoken... From our party side, I led the debate with the presentation of the Bill and the Home Minister intervened. Some senior MPs had a very good presentation on the debate. So, the Leader of the Opposition didn't speak. Well, that's up to him. But I was also a bit surprised," he added.
"The Kerala Christian groups had made it very loud and clear that this bill has to be passed, and the larger Christian organisations, which are all India-based, they also made a very ardent appeal. That could be one of the factors," he added.
While Priyanka Gandhi is MP from Wayanad in Kerala, Rahul Gandhi has also represented the constituency and Rijiju hinted that this might be the reason why he refrained from participating in the Waqf debate.
Apart from Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, other leaders from Congress and other parties of the INDIA bloc had strongly opposed the Bill.
Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) and Kerala Catholic Bishops Council (KCBC) were among organisations that supported the Waqf Amendment Bill. Syro-Malabar Church had later hailed the passage of the Bill.
(With inputs from ANI)
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