VIDEO: If Govt Changes, Waqf Law Would Change, Says Mamata Amid Row

New Delhi: Amid the ongoing controversy over the amended Waqf law, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday launched a scathing attack on the Centre, stating that the law was modified with a political motive to divide the country. She further claimed that if the government at the Centre changes, the Waqf law will also undergo another amendment.

Speaking to reporters, Banerjee accused the government of using the legislation as a tool to create communal rifts. "This was done intentionally, politically, to divide the country," Mamata said. Furthermore, she expressed confidence that a change in power at the national level would lead to a reversal of the amendment.

"But one day, they will go away, and the other Government will come. At that time, you must remember there will be another amendment, and it will be passed in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha," the Trinamool Congress ( TMC ) supremo asserted.

Meanwhile, as the Rajya Sabha debated the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, members of the National Democratic Alliance ( NDA ) voiced their strong support for the legislation. They expressed confidence in its passage while accusing the Opposition of "creating confusion" and "spreading false narratives" about the bill.

Union Minister and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) president Chirag Paswan , along with Union Minister and Republican Party of India (Athawale) president Ramdas Athawale, defended the bill, emphasizing that it had been passed in the Lok Sabha just 12 hours earlier.

"Everything introduced by the Modi government seems unconstitutional to the Opposition; it becomes a black day. Just like today, there was a black day during CAA , Article 370, and even the whole Lok Sabha election was a black day for them," LJP chief Chirag Paswan told reporters at Parliament premises.

Targeting the Opposition, Paswan accused them of misleading the public about the bill's intent. "Most opposition leaders spread confusion by making generalized statements that this bill is against Muslims. If the system is being strengthened and made transparent for pro-poor Muslims and women, then why are they getting upset? It is natural for those who had made Waqf a hub of corruption to be concerned," he said.

He also took a dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for being absent during both the discussion on the Waqf Bill and the debate on the President's Rule in Manipur . "The LoP himself was absent when the bill was being introduced in Parliament yesterday. He was also absent when Manipur was being discussed... If the Congress was so concerned, then they should have made a Muslim Chief Minister in Bihar once," he added.

The Lok Sabha had extended its session beyond midnight to pass the bill, with Speaker Om Birla later announcing the division's result. "Subject to correction, Ayes 288, Noes 232. The majority is in favor of the proposal," he said.

The government introduced the revised bill after incorporating recommendations from the Joint Parliamentary Committee, which had examined the legislation introduced in August last year. The bill seeks to amend the Waqf Act of 1995, aiming to improve the administration and management of Waqf properties in India.

It intends to address the shortcomings of the previous act while enhancing the efficiency of Waqf boards, improving the registration process, and increasing the role of technology in managing Waqf records.

Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju tabled the bill for discussion in the Rajya Sabha earlier today, just hours after its passage in the Lower House.