JPC report on Waqf bill tabled in Rajya Sabha: Opposition demands withdrawal

New Delhi: The joint parliamentary committee report on the Waqf Amendment Bill was tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday amid demands for its withdrawal and brief adjournment of the proceedings following a heated debate between the treasury and opposition benches.

Opposition MPs led by Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that dissent notes were deleted from the report, a charge denied by Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju.

"The report of the joint committee of Parliament on Waqf... in which several members had given their dissent note has been taken out. Bulldozing the report by only keeping the views of the majority members is not right. It is condemnable, anti-democratic," he said.

However, Kiren Rijiju denied the opposition's allegations and said everything has been kept on the floor of the House and nothing has been removed from the report.

The report on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill was tabled by BJP member Medha Vishram Kulkarni, a member of the panel, followed by uproar from the opposition members. The clamour continued as Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar tried to read out a message from President Droupadi Murmu.

"Don't show disrespect to the President of India," Dhankhar said and urged Kharge to ask the opposition members to take their seats. As the uproar continued, the Upper House was briefly adjourned.

When the house reconvened, the chairman read out the message from the president that she had received the expression of thanks by members of the Rajya Sabha on her address to a joint sitting of Parliament on January 31.

Meanwhile, many opposition members stood from their seats and gathered around the initial rows from the chair, continuously pressing their demand for the withdrawal of the report amid the threat of serious action from the chairman.