Union home minister Amit Shah said on Wednesday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is fulfilling the wishes of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad regarding the Waqf bill, and accused the Opposition of failing to do so.
Participating in the debate in Lok Sabha on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, Amit Shah said that new legislation may not have been necessary if the Waqf (Amendment) Act had not been passed in 2013, during the Congress-led UPA II government. Follow LIVE updates
Shah said that when amendments to the Waqf were introduced in 2013, Lalu Prasad had said he wanted a strict law and to jail those who were stealing.
He also went on to quote Lalu Yadav’s speech in the Parliament, which said,“We welcome the amendment bill presented by the government. I support the statements made by (BJP leader) Shahnawaz Hussain and others. Most of the land has been grabbed, be it government-owned or otherwise. People in the Waqf Board have sold all of prime land. In Patna, apartments have been constructed on Dak Bungalow property. We support the amendments, but we want you (the UPA II government) to bring in a strict law in the future…”
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Further, while looking towards opposition members, the home minister said that the Narendra Modi government is now fulfilling Lalu Yadav’s wishes.
“Lalu Prasad’s wishes were not fulfilled by them, but Narendra Modi is doing it,” Shah told the Lok Sabha.
In his speech in the Lok Sabha, the home minister also accused the opposition of fear-mongering over the Waqf (Amendment) Bill.
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“No non-Islamic member will be a part of Waqf. There is neither any provision for the appointment of a non-Muslim to manage the religious institution, nor do we intend to introduce any such provision,” Shah said.
“A rumour is being spread that this Act is aimed at interfering with the religious practices of our Muslim brothers and their donated property. This is being done to intimidate the minorities,” Shah added.