Plus, how will the Opposition respond to the late-night discussion in the Lok Sabha to ratify the imposition of President’s Rule in Manipur?
After more than 13 hours, the Lok Sabha adjourned around 2.40 am on Thursday following the passage of the Waqf Amendment Bill and the adoption of a resolution confirming President’s Rule in Manipur. With just two more days left in the Budget Session, the action now shifts to the Rajya Sabha.
But first, how things ended in the Lok Sabha. After more than 12 hours of intense debate, the Waqf Bill was passed with 288 votes in favour and 232 against. As a rather long day in the Lower House appeared to be over, the statutory resolution on approving the proclamation of President’s Rule in Manipur was taken up around 2 am, surprising the Opposition. After Union Home Minister Amit Shah moved the resolution, Speaker Om Birla called on Congress MP Shashi Tharoor to make his remarks. The parliamentarian from Thiruvanathapuram, who appeared to be taken by surprise, asked the Speaker, “Sir, do you genuinely want the discussion at this time?” In the end, the discussion on the issue was over, and the resolution ratified, in just over half an hour. Last month, it had been decided at a meeting of the House Business Advisory Committee that an hour would be allotted for the discussion on the Manipur resolution.
How the Opposition responds to this late-night rush in the Lower House will be among the things to watch out for. The Opposition has held the ruling party responsible for failing to put an end to the ethnic violence in Manipur that began in May 2023. It has also accused the government of “bulldozing” through its agenda and ignoring issues it wanted to raise, walking out of a BAC meeting on Tuesday.
The Upper House will next take up both the Waqf Bill and the resolution on ratifying President’s Rule in Manipur, which has been listed in the Revised Business List for Thursday. As far as the Waqf Bill goes, the BJP-led NDA is well placed in the Rajya Sabha too, with 125 MPs, including the BJP’s 98, the JD(U)’s four, the NCP’s 3, the TDP’s two, and the six nominated members.
The Opposition INDIA bloc, in comparison, has 88 MPs, including 27 from the Congress and 13 from the Trinamool Congress. Even if the seven MPs of the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD — the party has increasingly moved towards the anti-BJP Opposition, side with the INDIA bloc — the numbers won’t be enough.
For the Opposition, the challenge will be figuring out how to shape its political messaging going forward, especially as the all-important Bihar elections are just months away. This also won’t be the last we hear of the Waqf Amendment Bill — its objective, according to AIMIM chief and Hyderabad Asaduddin Owaisi, is to “humiliate Muslims and make Muslims second-class citizens” — as legal challenges are expected. The All India Muslim Personal Law Board has already said it will challenge the Bill in court and launch a nationwide fight against the “black law”.
