Tejashwi Yadav says Waqf Bill will be thrown in ‘dustbin’

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Saturday promised that the Waqf (Amendment) Bill will be tossed into the dustbin if his party formed a government in Bihar. He said his party had moved the Supreme Court against the controversial legislation, which passed in the Parliament earlier this week.

Yadav also took a jibe at Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) for backing the bill, saying the party was trying hard to prove that the bill would benefit Muslims.

"They are trying hard, but without success, to prove that the Bill will benefit Muslims," he was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

"Just look at how the JD(U) has forced its Muslim leaders to address a press conference, which was quite a fiasco," alleged the RJD leader.

Nitish Kumar and his party are being panned for supporting the bill despite adhering to the secular ideology. He is also facing dissent from within the party as five of its leaders have tendered their resignations.

Also read: Why did JD(U) vote in favour of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill? Spokesperson reveals

Tejashwi Yadav's jibe at Nitish Kumar

Yadav, whose party office is just across the street from the premises where the JD(U)'s event took place, remarked sarcastically: “It appears that photographs of Nitish Kumar at their office will soon be replaced with images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Even a child knows the fate that awaits the chief minister after elections are over.”

Yadav claimed the bill was brought to divert public attention away from problems like unemployment. He said his party wouldn't let the BJP implement the bill in Bihar.

"But we will not allow the implementation of this Bill in Bihar. If we form the next government in the state, the Bill will be consigned to the dustbin," claimed the young leader.

"We have also moved the Supreme Court against the Waqf Bill. We believe that today Muslims are being targeted and tomorrow it may be the turn of Sikhs and Christians," he added.

Also read: AIMPLB says Waqf Bill support exposed 'secular facade' of political parties

JD(U) issues clarification

The Janata Dal (United), meanwhile, clarified that it supported the contentious bill only because the BJP-led government agreed to all of its demands and suggestions.

JD(U) leader Anjum Ara said that her party supported the Waqf (Amendment) Bill only after its suggestions were accepted by the ruling party.

"JDU had presented five suggestions, or one can call them conditions, all of which were accepted in the Waqf Amendment Bill," she said at a press conference.

The bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha with 128 members voting in favour and 95 opposing it. It was passed in the Lok Sabha early on Thursday, with 288 members supporting it and 232 against it.

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), which had urged secular political parties to oppose the bill, today said the secular facade of certain parties that backed the bill stood exposed.

With PTI, ANI inputs