The Opposition scored a small win in Parliament on Thursday when the BJP agreed to include redacted portions of their dissent notes in the joint parliamentary committee report on the waqf bill after Union minister for minority affairs Kiren Rijiju had earlier repeatedly rejected the charge of omissions in the Rajya Sabha.
The change of heart in the BJP came on Thursday afternoon in the face of loud protests from the Opposition in both Houses of Parliament when the report of the JPC on the waqf bill was tabled.
As the report was tabled in the Lok Sabha amid loud protests by the Opposition benches and celebratory chants of “Jai Shri Ram” and “Bharat Mata ki jai” by BJP members, home minister Amit Shah rose to urge Speaker Om Birla to fully include the Opposition’s dissent notes, stressing that the BJP had no objection on the issue.
“Some Opposition members have objected, stating that their disputes (dissent) have not been fully included. On behalf of my party, I want to request that in accordance with the parliamentary procedure, you can add whatever you feel appropriate. My party has no objection to this,” Shah told the Chair.
Birla assured the protesting MPs that the dissent notes of the Opposition members would be included in the annexure of the JPC report. “Some members on the waqf JPC board met me and whatever objections they raised, I have directed that it will be included in the annexure,” Birla said.
Soon after, a ruling party member of the JPC, Medha Vishram Kulkarni, tabled an English copy of the “corrigendum to Appendix V” of the JPC report in the Rajya Sabha, vindicating the Opposition which said it had now become clear that it were the ministers who were misleading Parliament. Appendix V pertains to notes/minutes of dissent received from 12 members of the JPC.
However, not everything that had been redacted from the eight dissent notes has been brought back. Congress Rajya Sabha member Syed Naseer Hussain, also a member of the JPC, told The Telegraph that about 40-50 per cent has been restored but portions in the dissent notes about the procedure followed by the committee have not been included even after the corrigendum.
Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha, J.P. Nadda, accused the Opposition of indulging in appeasement politics by raising this issue. However, for the Opposition members — outnumbered in both Houses and the JPC — the dissent notes are their way of ensuring that their and their parties’ views form part of the official record for posterity.
In the morning, at least four ministers, including Nadda, had intervened during the uproar in the Rajya Sabha over the redactions after the report was tabled in the House. While environment and forest minister Bhupendra Yadav said the JPC chairman was empowered by the rules to redact portions of the dissent notes, Rijiju and finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman accused the Opposition of misleading the House.
“Some of the concerns raised by the Opposition parties, I have just checked it. There’s no deletion, there is no removal of any part of the report…. On what basis are they saying this, don’t mislead the House…. The allegation is false… In appendix also, all dissent notes are attached. They can’t mislead the House,” Rijiju said.
Hussain challenged it saying: “The minister for minority affairs is misleading the House…. I want to put it on record that my own dissent note — introductory and concluding party — has been redacted.”
Earlier, leader of the Opposition in the Upper House Mallikarjun Kharge urged the Chairman to withdraw the JPC report and instruct the committee to table it afresh with all the dissent notes in full.