31 MPs Appointed To Joint Panel For Waqf Bill Review

The joint parliamentary committee to review the Waqf (Amendment) Bill will consist of 31 members—21 from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha.

The committee, which will report by the next session, was formed following a motion by Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju. In the Lok Sabha, the panel includes 12 NDA members (eight from the BJP) and nine opposition members.

The Rajya Sabha’s composition includes four BJP members, four opposition members, and one nominated member. The Lok Sabha members in the panel are Jagdambika Pal, Nishikant Dubey, Tejasvi Surya, Aparajita Sarangi, Sanjay Jaiswal, Dilip Saikia, Abhiit Gangopadhyay, and DK Aruna (all BJP).

Gaurav Gogoi, Imran Masood, and Mohammadd Jawed (all Congress); Mohibullah (Samajwadi Party); Kalyan Banerjee (Trinamool Congress); A Raja (DMK); Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu (Telugu Desam Party); Dileshwar Kamait (JDU); Arvind Sawant (Shiv Sena-UBT); Suresh Mhatre (NCP-Sharad Pawar).

Naresh Mhaske (Shiv Sena); Arun Bharti (Lok Janshakti Party-Ram Vilas); and Asaduddin Owaisi (AIMIM). Those included from the Rajya Sabha are Brij Lal, Medha Vishram Kulkarni, Gulam Ali, Radha Mohan Das Agrawal (all BJP), and Syed Naseer Hussain (Congress).

Mohammed Nadimul Haque (Trinamool Congress); V Vijayasai Reddy (YSRCP); M Mohamed Abdulla (DMK); Sanjay Singh (AAP); and nominated member Dharmasthala Veerendra Heggade.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla is expected to announce the chairperson of the committee soon. While there is speculation that the BJP’s Jagdambika Pal may lead the panel, officials have stated that the final decision will be made by Birla.