Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis announced on Friday that one of two newly vacant Rajya Sabha seats will go to the Nationalist Congress Party of Ajit Pawar. This comes after Udayanraje Bhosale and Piyush Goyal managed to get elected to the Lok Sabha from Satara and Mumbai North, respectively.
At a press conference in Satara, Fadnavis said, "Now, as two Rajya Sabha seats fall vacant, one will be retained by the BJP and the other will be given to Ajit Pawar's group, as promised to them earlier by the BJP.". "The final decision will be taken by the BJP parliamentary board." At another briefing in Pune, Fadnavis attacked the Congress for opposing the Wakf (Amendment) Bill, introduced in the Lok Sabha on Thursday and later sent to a joint parliamentary committee amid an acrimonious debate.
Though the Narendra Modi government has always maintained that proposed legislation does not interfere with the running of mosques, the opposition parties — mainly the Congress — point out that the measure is aimed at targeting Muslims, which, they feel, undermines the Constitution.
He charged that the Congress itself was eyeing the Wakf land, citing past instances when the Congress members were involved in scams related to such land. "The Congress's opposition stems from their interest in grabbing Wakf land. The bill aims to introduce transparency, which is why they are against it," he said.
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