New Delhi, Aug 9: A motion to nominate 10 members of Rajya Sabha, including four from the BJP and one each from Congress and Aam Aadmi Party, to the joint parliamentary committee on Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024 was adopted in the Upper House on Friday.
When the house reassembled in the afternoon session after multiple adjournments, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju, who is also the minister of minority affairs, moved the motion for nomination of members to the joint committee on Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024 and concurred with the recommendations of the Lok Sabha that the Upper House join the joint committee. He also moved that 10 members of the Rajya Sabha be nominated to serve on the said joint committee.
The members are Brij Lal, Medha Vishram Kulkarni, Gulam Ali, Radha Mohan Das Agrawal (all BJP), Syed Naseer Hussain (Congress), Mohammed Nadimul Haque (AITC), V Vijayasai Reddy (YSRCP), M Mohamed Abdulla (DMK), Sanjay Singh (AAP) and nominated member Dharmasthala Veerendra Heggade.
The motion was adopted by a voice vote in the absence of Opposition members, who had walked out earlier in the day.
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill was referred to a joint committee of Houses consisting of 21 members from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha. The panel is mandated to submit its report by the last day of the first week of the next Parliament session.
The Bill, which was introduced in Lok Sabha on Thursday, was referred to a joint parliamentary panel after a heated debate. The government asserted the proposed law did not intend to interfere with the functioning of mosques while the opposition called it targeting of Muslims and an attack on the Constitution.
