'When BJP-led regime is ousted, will bring amendment to nullify Waqf Bill': Mamata Banerjee

NEW DELHI: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday rejected the Waqf Amendment Bill , which was passed in the Lok Sabha with 288 votes in favour, and claimed that once the BJP-led regime was ousted, they would nullify the law.

The controversial bill passed in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday after a marathon 12-hour debate, securing 288 votes in favor and 232 against. The BJP received support from its allies, including the TDP, JD(U), Shiv Sena, and LJP.

In a presser, Mamata Banerjee said that BJP brought Waqf (Amendment) Bill to divide country.

"When BJP-led regime is ousted and new govt formed, will bring amendment to nullify Waqf Bill," Banerjee said in a presser.

Yesterday, Wednesday, also Banerjee slammed the Centre over the Waqf Amendment Bill and said that the jumla party’s (BJP) only agenda is to divide the country.

Trinamool Congress chief claimed that the BJP believes in only divide and rule policy.

"The jumla party’s only one point agenda is to divide the country. They only believe in divide & rule policy which we don’t. First learn to respect the Constitution and than takeaway someone's rights," Banerjee said in the presser.

In the 12-hr long debate, the government countered the opposition's charges of encroachment on constitutional and Muslim rights and attacks on federalism with a strong defence of the changes in the Act governing Islamic endowments .

After the Lok Sabha, the bill moved to Rajya Sabha and is expected to comfortably clear the numbers test in that as well. Although the debate in LS followed the by-now familiar 'secular versus communal' trajectory, the smooth passage of the bill marked an important juncture.