Waqf Bill: Who supports, who opposes and does BJP have numbers in Parliament?

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government and the Opposition are gearing up for a major clash in Parliament as the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, is set for discussion and passage in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, April 2.

The Waqf Bill is likely to come before the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. Minorities and parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju told reporters that the Lok Sabha’s business advisory committee (BAC), which includes leaders from all major parties and is chaired by Speaker Om Birla, agreed on an eight-hour debate.

Senior leaders on Tuesday said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is confident of the support of key allies such as the Janata Dal (United), the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), whose backing is crucial for the controversial Waqf (Amendment) Bill to clear Parliament.

The Opposition INDIA bloc, on the other hand, presented a united face as they discussed their joint strategy to oppose the Waqf Bill in the House.

Both the BJP and Congress have issued whips to their MPs to ensure their presence in Parliament.

Parties which are backing Waqf (Amendment) Bill

Leaders of parties such as Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) and the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas)) have confirmed that they will not stall the passage of the bill, adding that the Opposition’s charge that the bill will encroach on the rights of the minorities was flawed.

“Our party has already met representatives of the Muslim Personal Law Board, Waqf Board and various other religious leaders, and assured them that their concerns will be relayed to the government and addressed, ” a senior JD(U) leader said.

A senior lawmaker from the LJP (RV) also confirmed support, saying the party will try to focus on its support for poor Muslims and “not how the opposition is making it out to be”.

N Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party, too, said it will back the bill because it will not encroach on the rights of Muslims. “Our party will support it. Chandrababu Naidu has already mentioned that we will work in interests of the Muslim community…” said TDP spokesperson Prem Kumar Jain.

Shiv Sena issued a three-line whip to all its MPs of Lok Sabha to be present in the House on April 2 and 3 and support the government’s stand.

Union minister Chirag Paswan, who leads the LJP(RV), also issued a three-line whip to all its MPs in the Lok Sabha to be present in the House.

Parties which are opposition Waqf (Amendment) Bill

The opposition parties on Tuesday held a meeting in the Parliament House to discuss and formulate their strategy as a showdown over the contentious bill is imminent.

Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and KC Venugopal, Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav, Nationalist Congress Party leader Supriya Sule, Trinamool Congress Party Kalyan Banerjee, and Aam Aadmi Party’s Sanjay Singh attended the meeting.

DMK’s TR Baalu, Tiruchi Siva and Kanimozhi, RJD’s Manoj Kumar Jha, CPI-M’s John Brittas, CPI’s Sandosh Kumar P, RSP’s NK Premchandran and Vaiko were also present in the meeting.

“All the Opposition parties are united and shall work together on the floor of the Parliament, to defeat the Unconstitutional and divisive agenda of the Modi Govt on the Waqf Amendment Bill,” Kharge said in a post on X.

In a post on Facebook, Rahul Gandhi said a meeting of opposition leaders from both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha was held in Parliament.

“During the meeting, we held a detailed discussion on the Waqf bill that will come up in Parliament tomorrow,” he said.

Congress leader Venugopal said the Bill must be opposed to “protect the Constitutional values” of the country.

“This is a clear-cut violation of the Constitution. People who believe in the Constitution will definitely oppose it,” he added.

TMC MP Banerjee said, “We will participate in discussion and voting as well. We want to have a discussion, but the BJP doesn’t want to do that. We want to discuss the matter on the floor of Parliament. We want to participate in the voting, but the BJP will not allow us to discuss it.”

RJD MP Jha said if the BJP-led central government tries to “bulldoze” the opposition, it will be forced to withdraw the Bill.

NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule in a strong democracy, the country is run by the Constitution.

“We will participate in the discussion tomorrow… Tomorrow, we will participate in the debate together,” she said.

Does BJP have numbers in Parliament?

Lok Sabha: In the Lok Sabha, the BJP needs a simple majority of 272 votes for the bill to pass. Of the 542 MPs, 240 are BJP lawmakers,12 are from the JD(U), 16 from the TDP, five from the LJP (RV), two from the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and seven from the Shiv Sena. If the NDA holds together, the bill will pass.

Rajya Sabha: In the Rajya Sabha, the NDA has 125 MPs – 98 from the BJP, four from the JD(U), two from the TDP, three from the Nationalist Congress Party, one from the Sena, and one from the RLD.

In the 245-member house, the bill needs the support of 119 MPs. The NDA is confident that it will get the backing of single-member parties such as the Asom Gana Parishad and Tamil Mannila Congress, as well as six nominated members.