Jagdambika Pal, senior Lok Sabha member of the BJP, will head the Joint Parliamentary Committee formed to examine the contentious Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024.
The Bill seeks to give a bigger say to the government in regulating Waqf properties and seeks to change the composition of Waqf Boards proposing even non-Muslim members. The Opposition strongly opposed the Bill and BJP allies also privately conveyed their unease over the legislation, prompting the government to send it to the JPC.
Mr. Pal, a four-time MP from Uttar Pradesh, is seen as a lawmaker who enjoys warm cross-party relations.
The joint panel has 31 members — 21 from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha — and will submit its report by the next session. A total of 16 members are from the National Democratic alliance out of which 12 are from the BJP.
Thirteen members are from the Opposition and one member is from the YSR Congress Party, which maintains a neutral stance. There was consternation among parties, such as the Indian Union Muslim League and Aam Aadmi Party, that were left out of the panel.
The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on Friday last adopted a motion moved by Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, who also holds the parliamentary affairs portfolio, naming the members to be part of the committee.
In the Lower House, 12 members of the panel are from the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), including eight from the BJP, and nine from the opposition. In the Upper House, four are from the BJP, four from the opposition, one from the YSRCP, which has opposed the Bill, and one is a nominated member.
The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Thursday last and referred to a joint committee of Parliament after a heated debate, with the government asserting the proposed law did not intend to interfere with the functioning of mosques and the Opposition calling it targeting of Muslims and an attack on the Constitution. The committee has been asked to submit its report to Lok Sabha by the last day of the first week of the next session, Mr. Rijiju said.
