Sanjay Jha downplays backlash over JD(U)’s support to Waqf Bill: 'No impact on Bihar polls'

JD(U) MP Sanjay Jha at News18 Rising Bharat Summit

JD(U) MP and the party’s national working president Sanjay Jha on Wednesday said their support for the Waqf (Amendment) Bill in the Parliament would have no political repercussions for the party in the upcoming Bihar elections.

Responding to a query on criticism of JD(U) by some parties and Muslims organisations in poll-bound Bihar over its support to the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, Jha, while speaking at the News18 Rising Bharat Summit, said: “I don’t think there will be any impact. We are also seeing… do you know Bihar is the only state where caste survey was conducted. Those who are giving sermons today themselves couldn’t get it done where they could…”

The Waqf (Amendment) Act, which was passed by Parliament last week, has come into force from Tuesday. The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha passed the bill post-midnight on April 3 and April 4 respectively. President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the proposed law on April 5.

While the BJP-led NDA had rallied in support of the bill, the opposition INDIA bloc united in opposing it.

Several Muslim bodies and opposition MPs have moved the Supreme Court against the law, which the ruling alliance has described as a force for transparency and empowerment of backward Muslims and women from the community. The opposition has slammed it as unconstitutional and claimed that it infringes on the rights of Muslims.

On Rahul Gandhi rejecting Bihar caste census as "fake", Jha made a sharp retort, saying neither the former knows anything about caste census, nor his own caste.

"He doesn't know anything about caste census. He doesn't know about his own caste. He has no idea of all these things... Even the public doesn't understand a thing about what he says," Jha said.

In January this year, Gandhi had alleged that the caste-based survey conducted in Bihar was 'fake'. He also said that the Congress would ensure a nation-wide caste census at all costs.

"People of Bihar were befooled in the name of caste-based survey," he had said, referring to a caste-based survey conducted in Bihar in 2022-2023.