New Delhi: The Rajya Sabha passed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill in favor of 128 votes and the marathon 15-hour debate against 95, which started at 11 am on Thursday and wounded at around 2.30 pm the next day.
The long debate, marked by the sharp exchanges, ended with the opposition, demanding a division and the bill firmly sailed his corner with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA’s) ‘secular’ colleagues.
The BJD’s surprising decision to withdraw his whip to allow seven of his members to vote as “according to their discretion” brought some extra votes for the governing side and took his tally to 128 beyond the 123 votes. A minimum of 119 votes were required to be passed, and the BJP’s Deft floor management ensured a comfortable margin. The opposition block expected to 98 votes decreased by 95.
After about 14 hours of discussion, the bill was passed in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, in which 288 members supported it and 232 against it. Along with both houses approved the bill, it is now waiting for the assurance to amend the 1995 Waqf Act of President Dropdi Murmu.
The budget session ends, both houses postponed the sign dye
The Parliament also approved the Muslim Waqf (Relations) Bill, 2025, in which the Rajya Sabha indicated. The Lower House had earlier cleaned the bill. The budget session of Parliament, which started from 31 January, was postponed in both houses on Friday.
Responding to the debate, Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju dismissed the opposition’s allegations as fear, putting an enthusiastic defense of the bill.
“We have constantly stated from yesterday that the Muslim Central Waqf Council and the State Waqf Board will form an overwhelming majority – 18 out of 22 and eight, in that order. Nevertheless, it was reiterated that these bodies would be controlled as a conspiracy by non -Muslims to divide the Muslims of their property.”
Rijiju, however, was blunt, saying that both bodies could not be allowed to be exclusive Muslim institutions.
He said, “He is not a brief religious and the disputes over Waqf’s properties include non-Muslims,” he said that the central government worked with the motto of ‘Saba Sixty, Saba Vikas’.
The minister said that the Waqf Board was a statutory body and like all government bodies, it should be secular. He said that the inclusion of some non-Muslims on the Waqf board will not change the body’s decisions and instead, the price will add.
The debate of the Waqf Bill was the main attraction of the budget session, in which the Rajya Sabha was sitting till 4.02 pm on Friday – the 1981 session on the essential service maintenance bill was echoed which lasted till 4.43 pm. Chairman Jagdeep Dhikar called the 15 -hour debate “unprecedented”.
Historically, Parliament has seen the marathon discussion. The longest, on the ‘status of our democracy’, spread to the Lok Sabha for 20.08 hours, followed by 1993 Railway Budget (18.35 hours) and 1998 Railway Budget (18.04 hours). Swift discussion on other matters was also seen in this session, such as the recommendation of the President’s rule in Manipur, in 42 minutes by the Lok Sabha and 1.24 hours by the Rajya Sabha.
