Union minister Kiren Rijiju on Saturday claimed "everybody is on board" in response to a specific query on whether Nitish Kumar and N. Chandrababu Naidu — the two key allies of the BJP-led NDA government — had any reservations about the waqf amendment bill.

Various Opposition leaders had reached out to Naidu and Kumar seeking their intervention to oppose the bill. However, the parliamentary affairs minister's claim suggested that the duo too gave their nod to the bill.

Rijiju said many Muslims supported the bill as well.

"Everybody is on board. Some people are doing propaganda. Muslim MPs in Parliament told me it was good work. They protest out of compulsion because of pressure from their parties,” he told a news conference in Srinagar.

The minister refused to identify the MPs.

Rijuju's statement came as Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah called the waqf bill an "anti-Muslim law" and said there was no other reason for the central government to move it.

The Joint Committee of Parliament (JPC) report on the waqf amendment bill, 2024, was tabled in Parliament on February 13 amid uproar from the Opposition.

Rijiju said that a fake narrative was being spread about the bill.

"When we presented the waqf amendment bill in Parliament, our intention was very clear and we also told Parliament that the sole objective of the bill is to safeguard the waqf properties in India, which are the largest in the world but of no use to poor Muslim women and children," the minister said.

"It was a matter of regret if someone was begging despite the properties with the waqf worth crores of rupees. That is why we have made it very clear in the waqf bill that there is no question of taking away the property from the Muslims and giving it to someone else," he said.

Rijiju claimed the country is run by law and no one can take away someone else's property, arguing the bill was aimed at transparently managing the property. The minister claimed thousands of Muslims, including women, have met him and praised the bill.

On the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, Rijiju declined to give any timeline. "The Prime Minister and the home minister had in the past made it clear that in due course of time, statehood will be restored,” he said.

The minister was addressing the media to highlight the importance of the Union budget, including the measures taken for Jammu and Kashmir in it.