Short of majority, the BJP on Wednesday used the support of NDA allies in the Lok Sabha to push through the contentious Waqf (Amendment) Bill, capping a 12-hour debate that saw the saffron party aggressively accuse the Opposition of “appeasement” and “vote-bank politics”.

The Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2025, which will be renamed UMEED (Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development Bill), was passed well past midnight by the Lower House with 288 votes cast in its favour and 232 against.

The bill proposes sweeping changes to the 1995 Waqf Act to give the government significant powers to regulate waqf properties and settle disputes.

A waqf property is an endowment made by a Muslim for religious, educational and charitable causes, and cannot be taken over for other purposes, according to the 1995 Act. The Modi government claims that the 1995 Act gives overriding powers to the waqf board, leading to misuse, and that the new law aims to ensure better management of waqf properties.

Among many changes, the most significant is that the bill seeks to amend Section 40 of the existing Waqf Act which empowers the waqf board to decide if a property is waqf property. The new bill extends this power to the
district collector.

Home minister Amit Shah and minority affairs minister Kiren Rijiju led the charge, accusing the previous UPA government of aiding an attempt to capture land belonging to temples, churches and even the Parliament building by bringing draconian amendments to the Waqf Act ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

“Had the Waqf Act not been amended in 2013, this amendment bill would not have been needed. Everything was going well, but there were elections in 2014 and overnight in 2013, the Waqf Act was turned extreme for appeasement,” Shah told the Lok Sabha. “As a result, the Congress government handed over 123 VVIP properties in Delhi to waqf when elections were just 25 days away,” he added.

“The UPA government de-notified 123 properties and gave them to the waqf board. Even the Parliament building where we are sitting was being claimed. Had the Modi government not come to power, all these would have been given away,” Rijiju, who moved the bill, said amid uproar.

AMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi tore the bill in the House and questioned the claim that the UPA government’s 2013 amendments had forced the Modi dispensation to bring the bill. Owaisi said the then Opposition BJP led by L.K. Advani and Sushma Swaraj had backed the amendments to be passed “unanimously” by the House.

The support to the bill, widely opposed by Muslim leaders and organisations, extended by key NDA allies like the JDU, TDP and the LJP emboldened the BJP to go all out to slam the Opposition and get the proposed legislation passed. The BJP, with 240 MPs, lacks a majority on its own in the Lok Sabha and would not have dared to bring the bill had the allies not backed it.

Armed with the support of the allies, Shah aggressively defended the bill, claiming that the Waqf (Amendment) Bill would protect the rights of poor Muslims and sounding a warning to those declaring that they would not accept the proposed new law.

“One member even said that the minority community will not accept this law. How can you not accept this law? This law is being made by Parliament and everyone will have to accept it. This law is of the government of India and everybody must accept it,” he said, waving his finger.

He claimed that the Modi government was fulfilling the wishes of RJD chief Lalu Prasad by bringing the legislation, appearing to eye the Bihar polls due later this year. Shah claimed that while speaking on the UPA’s Waqf Amendment Bill, Lalu had demanded strict provisions in the law to stop the capture of prime Patna land in the name of waqf property.

“Lalu Prasad’s wishes were not fulfilled by them, but Narendra Modi is doing it. Laluji had asked for a stricter law,” Shah said, looking towards the Opposition benches.

Shah said the government had been compelled to bring the amended legislation to stop the capture of huge tracts of prime property in the name of waqf. “In Tamil Nadu, a 400-year-old temple property was declared waqf property. A waqf plot was given for building a five-star establishment on a meagre rent of ₹12,000 a month,” he said.

Many properties belonging to other religions were declared as waqf property, including Chandra Shekhar Azad Park in Prayagraj,” Shah added.

Both Shah and Rijiju sought to sound tough but at the same time address fears of the new law fomenting unrest, compelled by pressure from the allies. The two ministers clarified that the new legislation would not have retrospective effect and accused the Opposition of misleading Muslims.

The amendment to strike out the retrospective effect of the bill was included following pressure from Nitish Kumar’s JDU. The change saw the JDU’s nominee in the Modi government, fisheries minister Rajiv Ranjan alias Lallan Singh, firmly support the bill, saying the amendments favour the “backward Muslims and Muslim women”.

“A misconception is being spread that the bill will come into effect retrospectively. Muslims are being told that their mosques and other religious properties would be taken away by the government. This bill clearly states that the law will come into effect from the date it is notified, and not retrospectively,” Shah told the House.

Shah and Rijiju dismissed allegations that the Centre was trying to interfere in Muslim religious practices through the bill, claiming that the waqf council and the waqf board do not manage religious affairs. Muslim outfits have firmly opposed the inclusion of non-Muslims in the waqf council and board.

“There is no provision to include non-Muslims in managing religious institutions. We do not want this. The misconception is being spread to instill fear among Muslims for vote-bank politics,” Shah said. “There is no provision in this legislation to interfere in the management of any mosque. This is simply an issue of management of a property,” Rijiju said.

The two leaders claimed that the new law would prevent theft of large sums of money by a group of “thekedars” (contractors) and ensure that waqf properties are used for the welfare of poor Muslims. Shah and Rijiju sought to taunt Opposition MPs from the south, telling them that Christians in their constituencies had backed the bill and they would have to face their anger for opposing it.

“I urge the Opposition members to change their mind and support the bill and not spread fear. The same kind of fear had been spread about the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. What happened? Did any Muslim lose citizenship?” Rijiju said.