The NDA government has referred the controversial Waqf (Amendment) Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) following significant opposition from various parties. The committee, which will review the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, is composed of 31 members, including 21 Lok Sabha MPs and 10 Rajya Sabha MPs. On Friday, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju announced the formation of the JPC, listing the 21 Lok Sabha and 10 Rajya Sabha members involved. Notably, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi and Congress MP Imran Masood are among those appointed to the committee.

While the BJP could have got the bill easily passed in the Lok Sabha, the draft could have hit a roadblock in the Rajya Sabha where the BJP has lost a majority. While the opposition may consider it their victory that the bill was sent to the JPC, the BJP agreeing to the demand of sending the bill to the house panel may have a farsighted plan for which the opposition needs to be prepared.  

The composition of the JPC reflects the proportional representation of various parties in both houses. This ensures that different political parties and interests are represented in the committee. Thus, the bill is likely to get the JPC nod with a majority vote though there may be some amendments in the proposed bill.

Since the waqf bill news came to the media, the opposition leaders started painting the BJP as anti-Muslim and questioned the BJP’s intention. Some Muslim leaders even said that the passing of the bill would result in a chaotic situation in the country. 

By sending the bill to the JPC, the NDA government has not only tried to get an upper hand but has bought time to get a majority in the Rajya Sabha. The Election Commission has already announced poll dates for the Elections for 12 vacant seats in Rajya Sabha. The voting and counting for these seats will be held on September 3. 

Of these 12 seats, the BJP is confident of winning at least 10 of these seats owing to the majority in the state assemblies of Assam, Bihar, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tripura and Odisha. With these 10 seats, the NDA’s tally in the house will increase to 111 with the house having 238 members. Also, the four newly nominated members are also expected to be pro-treasury benches whenever the government names them. This will give a boost to the NDA in the Rajya Sabha. With this, the BJP will hope to get the bill through the Rajya Sabha easily in the next parliament session.