"I have supported the bill...": BJD leader Sasmit Patra on Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2025

New Delhi [India], April 4 (ANI): Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader Sasmit Patra on Friday extended his support to the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025 and said that he has supported the bill.
"The party has decided that the MPs were to vote as per their conscience and left it to the MPs to decide. I have not discussed this with the MPs so far. I have supported the bill. Others MP what they have done whether they have walked out or abstained or they have supported, that I can not say," Patra said.
In the early hours of Friday, the Parliament passed the Waqf Amendment Bill 2025 after a marathon and heated debate.
Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said, "Ayes 128 and Noes 95, Absent zero. The Bill is passed."
The House sat beyond midnight to pass the legislation.
Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju accused the opposition parties of trying to mislead people on the Waqf Amendment Bill and said it will benefit crores of people from the Muslim community.
Replying to the over 12-hour-long debate on the bill in Rajya Sabha, Rijiju said several suggestions made by the Joint Parliamentary Committee had been incorporated in the revised bill.
Rijiju said that the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, will be renamed as the UMEED (Unified Waqf Management Empowerment Efficiency and Development) Bill.
Lok Sabha, which took up discussion on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill on Wednesday, passed it past midnight after a marathon debate.
The government introduced the revised bill after incorporating the recommendations of the Joint Parliamentary Committee, which examined the legislation introduced in August last year. The bill seeks to amend the Act of 1995 and improve the administration and management of waqf properties in India.
The Bill aims to overcome the shortcomings of the previous act and enhance the efficiency of Waqf boards, improving the registration process and increasing the role of technology in managing waqf records. (ANI)