Biju Janata Dal President and Odisha Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Naveen Patnaik announced that his party will oppose the Waqf (Amendment) Bill in parliament on Thursday.
Every day, minority brothers and sisters coming from different places meet me. They are informing about suffering from a sense of insecurity. Keeping in view the interest of the minorities, the BJD will oppose the Waqf bill. Peace and harmony are the foundation for development. Odisha is famous for harmony and brotherhood," Patnaik wrote on X.
Senior BJD leader Muzibulla Khan alias Munna Khan said that the bill has been referred to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for scrutiny.
"We will wait for the report of the JPC before taking any decision," Khan said.
He said the party supremo in his speech during the organisational meeting of the BJD minority cell has firmly stated that the party will oppose the Waqf bill in parliament.
The BJD had earlier supported the ruling BJP government in the Rajya Sabha over several contentious bills despite its claims of maintaining "equidistance" from both BJP and Congress.
However, this party changed its stance after the humiliating defeat in the recent general election and decided to play the role of a strong opposition in the Rajya Sabha.
Whereas in Rajya Sabha, BJD has eight members, and in the lower house of the parliament, there is no member of this party.
On the other side, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance or NDA reached the majority mark in the upper house of the parliament after the results of Rajya Sabha elections last month for which the number has gone up to 112 members in the house.
