'Kab inka-hamara haath mil jaye': Akhilesh's ally warning to BJP ahead of Bihar polls

NEW DELHI: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav during his Lok Sabha address came down heavily on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill. His words weren’t just aimed at the Bill but also at the BJP-led NDA. The Samajwadi chief, with an indirect jibe at Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, issued a warning signaling that the Bihar CM might jump the ship again.
"Rajneeti kya hai? Humne aapka haath pakda aur hum yahan aa gaye, aur aap humara haath chhod kar wahan chale gaye. Isliye, dekhiyega kab inka-humara haath mil jaye," he said, hinting at potential shifts in political alliances. (Politics is such that we held your hand and came here, and you let go of ours and went there. Watch when our hands meet again.)
Yadav fiercely opposed the Waqf Amendment Bill, calling it an example of the BJP’s divisive politics. "This bill is not being brought with any hope; it is part of a well-thought-out strategy because their vote has collapsed. They want division even among Muslims... I, along with my party and allies, the Samajwadi Party, strongly oppose this bill. If voting takes place, we will vote against it," he said.
He hinted at a rift between NDA suggesting that all alliance leaders were on board with the bill. "Waqf Bill BJP ke liye Waterloo sabit hoga kyunki upar se toh ha-ha kar rahe hain par andar hi andar bohot saare saathi sehmat nahi hai. (The Waqf Bill will prove to be BJP’s Waterloo because while they are laughing on the outside, many within are not in agreement.)"

The bill, which seeks to amend the Waqf Act of 1995, introduces changes aimed at improving administration, transparency, and the efficiency of Waqf boards. Rijiju also announced that the bill would be renamed as the Unified Waqf Management Empowerment, Efficiency and Development (UMEED) Bill.
BJP’s key ally, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), announced its support for the bill, just a day before the Bill was tabled. "The whole Muslim community is waiting for the Waqf Amendment Bill. Our party will support it. Chandrababu Naidu has already mentioned that we will work in the interests of the Muslim community," a TDP leader said.
Nitish Kumar's JD(U), meanwhile had urged that the Waqf (Amendment) Bill not be implemented retrospectively. JD(U) MP Sanjay Jha highlighted Nitish Kumar’s 19 years of service to Bihar and the Muslim community, stressing that the bill should not affect past actions. Party leader Rajeev Ranjan added that a Muslim delegation had met Kumar to express concerns, which were raised in the Joint Parliamentary Committee. The bill will be debated in the Lok Sabha on April 2.
Minority affairs minister Kiren Rijiju defended the bill, saying that it had nothing to do with religion and was focused solely on improving the management of waqf properties. "The changes made by the UPA government gave the Waqf law an overriding effect over other statutes. The new amendments were required to correct that. The government is not interfering in any religious institution," Rijiju said.