"CM Naidu will not allow any bill that harms Muslims interests": TDP leader on Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024

New Delhi: Amid opposition to the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader Nawab Jan who is also the alliance partner of NDA said that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu will not let any bill that harms the interests of the Muslims be implemented.
Addressing the 'Samvidhan Bachao Sammelan' on sunday organised by Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, the TDP leader urged everyone to come together to stop the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024 from being passed in Parliament.
"Central Government is continuously trying to bring in a Waqf Bill, we all have to go ahead together to thwart that attempt," Nawab Jan said.
He further said that the benefits that Muslims got under Naidu's rule are unprecedented since the independence of the country
"Our (Andhra Pradesh) CM Nara Chandrababu Naidu is a secular-minded person. He says that Hindus and Muslims are two eyes of the body, any harm done to one eye affects the whole body and I can't tolerate this...Under no circumstance, he (Naidu ) will let a Bill that harms Muslims be implemented," he said.
The TDP leader claimed that sending the Waqf (Amendment) Bill to Parliament's Joint Committee (JPC) could only be made possible because of Naidu.
The Waqf Act, of 1995, which was created to regulate waqf properties, has long faced allegations of mismanagement, corruption and encroachments.
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 seeks to bring sweeping reforms, introducing digitisation, stricter audits, transparency and legal mechanisms to reclaim illegally occupied properties. The JPC is holding a series of meetings to gather input from government officials, legal experts, Waqf Board members and community representatives from different states and Union Territories, aiming for the most comprehensive reform possible.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) formed the government at the Center with the support of other parties such as the TDP and the Janata Dal (United).
Both TDP and JD-U are crucial allies of the BJP in the NDA government. TDP has 16 MPs and JD-U has 12 MPs in the Lok Sabha.
BJP-led National Democratic Alliance won its third successive term in the results of Lok Sabha polls declared on June 4. The NDA won 293 seats in the Lok Sabha polls with BJP getting 240 seats.