Waqf Amendment bill to be tabled in this Parliament session: Amit Shah

New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said that Waqf Amendment Bill, on which Joint Parliamentary Committee  has given its report, will be tabled in the Budget session of Parliament. 

It is to be noted that the Budget session is slated to conclude on April 4.

Shah also spoke of the government's efforts to strengthen internal security and expressed BJP's commitment for Uniform Civil Code.

Meanwhile, dissing the DMK, Shah said the government has not spelled out any rules for delimitation and assured that there will no injustice.

"The policy of BJP is whenever there is delimitation, there will not be .001 per cent injustice with anyone," he said.

Shah also answered questions on a range of issues, including statehood of Jammu and Kashmir and Manipur situation, Bihar and Tamil Nadu assembly elections, caste census and the mantra for winning polls.

Addressing apprehensions among some parties about the Waqf Bill, Shah claimed there was no need to be afraid of it.

"We will table the Waqf amendment bill in this Parliament session," he said, asked if it will be moved during the session. 

The JPC has already given its report on the Waqf Bill. He said the bill will not be implemented with retrospective effect and people with grievances have the option to go the court.

"Nobody needs to get afraid of the Waqf Bill. In 2013, the Congress-led government passed the Waqf Bill and made several provisions that are not aligned with our Constitution. We are now trying to align the bill with constitutional principles," he said.

Shah said 123 prime properties in Delhi have been declared as waqf properties, and the law had provision that decisions cannot be challenged in court.

"In Delhi, 123 prime-location properties were declared as Waqf land...In Prayagraj, Chandra Shekhar Azad Garden--where Chandra Shekhar Azad breathed his last--was declared Waqf property. A Maulana now says that Parliament and Rashtrapati Bhavan should also be declared Waqf property. How is this acceptable?" he asked.

Asked about AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi's protest, Shah said people have a right to protest.

"Some do it through their clothes, some through their words. In Parliament, one opposes through logic," he said.

When asked about his recent remarks that the BJP-led government will be in power for 15-20 years, Amit Shah said he had not stated anything new.

"When I became the president of the party, I had said in my very first speech that the Bharatiya Janata Party government will remain in power for 30 years and 10 years of that have already passed. In a democracy, the victory of any party is based on its performance," he said.

"Those who do not perform do not have self-confidence. I believe that in these 10 years, under the leadership of Narendra Modiji, not only the Central Government, but wherever there was BJP government, we have succeeded in changing the situation, hence we have confidence," he added.

He also hit out at Rahul Gandhi over allegations that he was not allowed to speak in Parliament. He said Congress had been allotted time during budget and other discussions and asked why the Congress leader had not spoken. He also pointed to Rahul Gandhi's travel abroad.

"They were given 42 percent of the time. It is up to them to decide who should speak--how can we stop them?” Shah asked.

He said Parliament works according to rules and it is not a party office that one can choose to speak whenever one wants.

Asked it is a convention that a Leader of Opposition is given time to speak when he is keen to do so, Amit Shah quipped that it depends on who occupies the post. He said responsibilities attached to the post have to be discharged dutifully.

Shah expressed full confidence in the NDA's victory in the Bihar assembly polls slated to take place later this year. He said NDA will return to power with greater majority.

"For the development of Bihar, Modi ji's government and Nitish ji's government have done a lot of work. I am fully confident that this time a full majority NDA government will be formed in Bihar with more seats than before," he said.

He also expressed confidence of NDA's victory in Tamil Nadu. He said talks were being held with AIADMK and if any announcement is to be made, it will be known. AIADMK had left NDA in 2023.

He accused the ruling DMK of "misgovernance" and said people were also agitated over its dynastic politics.

He said the DMK is unable to provide medical and engineering education in Tamil and was raising issues such as delimitation to hide its "failures and corruption"

He also slammed DMK on its opposition to NEP.

"This is the first education policy that recommends conducting primary education in one's mother tongue. If it is applied in Tamil Nadu, then Tamil will be the medium of instruction in education," Home Minister said.

Amit Shah also hailed the recent assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir as a historic milestone, stating that it was the first time in 40 years that no re-polling was required.

"This is the first such election in Kashmir after 40 years in which not a single re-poll took place. Secondly, after 40 years such an election has taken place in which not a single tear gas or a single bullet was fired. Third, after a very long time, such an election has taken place where 60 per cent of the people have exercised their right to vote. This is a very big change," he added.

He said statehood will be restored to Jammu and Kashmir at appropriate time.

Shah said the BJP had fulfilled its promises of abrogation of Article 370 and building Ram Temple in Ayodhya and the party was committed to Uniform Civil Code.

He said Uttarkhand has framed rules for UCC and other BJP-ruled states will also implement it.

'We believe that the country should have a uniform civil code. It's our commitment to bring in the UCC," he said.

Answering queries on Manipur, Shah said shops and markets are open and over a period of time the situation will be back to normal.

He also slammed the Congress government's move in Karnataka to give four per cent reservation to Muslims in public contracts.

He said the Constitution does not allow religion-based reservation.

"I want to ask, should contracts be given based on quality and value or on religion," he said.

He rejected allegations of Centre discriminating with states ruled by non-BJP parties in allocation of funds.

On the petitions concerning the Places of Worship Act, Shah said the court will deliver justice.

Shah also rejected opposition allegation of "undeclared Emergency".

Shah said he has no personal agenda and his agenda is that of the party to make India a developed nation by 2047.

He said the mantra to win polls is to work selflessly for the country from morning till the time one goes to sleep.