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2 Tripura BJP MLAs who quit party join Congress, claim more coming

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Dissident Tripura MLAs of the ruling BJP — Sudip Roy Barman and Ashis Kumar Saha, who resigned from the Assembly and the party on Monday, Joined the Congress in New Delhi on Tuesday. AICC in-charge for Tripura, Nagaland and Sikkim, Ajoy Kumar in his tweets said that Roy Barman and Saha joined the Congress in presence of party leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

Tripura Pradesh Congress President Birajit Sinha and former state President Gopal Roy and other leaders including Ajoy Kumar were also present when the two leaders joined Congress at the residence of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Delhi.

Both Sinha and Roy Barman while separately talking to IANS over phone, claimed that more than five BJP MLAs would join the Congress after March. “The BJP MLAs who are intended to join would have to complete certain organisational and technical matters before joining the Congress. Besides the BJP MLAs, a large number of saffron party leaders and workers would also join the Congress as everyone is disillusioned with the party (BJP),” Sinha, a former minister, said.

Roy Barman, a former Minister, and Saha had told the media in Agartala before leaving for Delhi that they have also sent their resignation letters to the BJP’s state President Manik Saha. Roy Barman said: “The BJP government led by Deb utterly failed to deliver. An autocratic rule has been prevailing in the state. People are in serious distress. We want to work for the people as we are unable to do this while remaining in the BJP.”

Roy Barman and Saha were earlier in Congress before joining Trinamool Congress (TMC) in 2016 and then to BJP next year (2017).

Earlier, BJP MLA Ashish Das after openly criticising the saffron party and its leadership including Chief Minister, joined the TMC on October 31, 2021 following which he was disqualified from Tripura Assembly by Speaker Ratan Chakraborty on January 5 (this year).

Two other BJP MLAs — Diba Chandra Hrangkhawl and Burba Mohan Tripura – also went to Delhi on Monday along with Roy Barman and Saha but their political positions have not yet officially been announced. BJP, on the other hand, downplayed the resignations of Roy Barman and Saha and said that their quitting from the Assembly membership would not create any constitutional crisis in the state.

State BJP spokesman Nabendu Bhattacharjee said that it was expected that Roy Barman and Saha would leave BJP. “They have been openly criticising the Chief Minister and other party leaders. Their resignation from the Assembly and the party has no importance to BJP,” Bhattacharjee told the media.

Roy Barman, Saha and three other BJP MLAs — Ashish Das, Diba Chandra Hrangkhawl and Burba Mohan Tripura — in August last year held a big gathering in Agartala which was attended by many local BJP leaders and workers. They had also met BJP’s National President J.P. Nadda and other central leaders and Ministers and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and apprised them about the “misgovernance in Tripura and Chief Minister’s authoritarian style of work”.

To curb the rebellion in the party and to set the governance right, several central party leaders led by BJP’s North East Zonal Secretary (Organisation), Ajay Jamwal, had visited the state several times. In the presence of the central party leaders, three BJP MLAs — Ram Prasad Paul, Sushanta Chowdhury, Bhagaban Chandra Das — were on August 31 last year inducted into the Tripura cabinet in its first cabinet expansion after the BJP-IPFT (Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura) alliance assumed charge in March 2018.

The open dissent and internal dispute in the ruling BJP began after Roy Barman, who was holding the Health and Information Technology departments, was sacked in May 2019 following differences with Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb.

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LS Speaker reprimands Sonia Gandhi over Waqf bill ‘bulldozed’ remarks

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New Delhi, April 4: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Friday reprimanded former Congress president Sonia Gandhi over her remarks that the Waqf (Amendment) Bill was bulldozed through the Parliament.

Taking strong objection to her claims of Waqf Bill passed ‘forcefully’ in the House, Om Birla termed the comments as ‘unfortunate’ and said that the allegations by senior Congress member was a violation of the democratic norms of the Parliament.

The Speaker noted that the bill was discussed for 13 hours and 53 minutes, with every party participating in the debate and followed by three rounds of voting but despite that Congress member was making such allegations.

“Three rounds of voting were conducted, and the Bill was passed according to the rules of the House. It is unfortunate that, despite following all the parliamentary procedures, such allegations are being made. This is not in line with the democratic norms of Parliament,” Speaker said.

Om Birla’s objection to Sonia’s claims of Waqf bill ‘bulldozed through’ the Parliament came after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju raised the matter in Lok Sabha today.

Rijiju, alluding to Congress RS MP Sonia Gandhi, said that extensive discussions took place in both the Houses over the Waqf bill, still the Opposition was making ‘baseless and absurd’ claims that the bill was passed with force.

He also demanded that the Speaker issues an “appropriate order” in response to these remarks.

Rijiju also highlighted that the Waqf reform debate broke the previous record of longest discussion in the Rajya Sabha.

“The previous record for a long discussion in the Rajya Sabha was during the ESMA (Essential Services Maintenance Act) discussion in 1981, which lasted for 16 hours and 51 minutes. Yesterday, this record was broken with a 17-hour and 2-minute discussion, making it the longest debate so far,” he informed the House.

A day ago, after Lok Sabha passed the Waqf Bill after marathon debate, Sonia Gandhi made her displeasure over the amendments known to party leaders, while addressing the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) meet yesterday. She stated that the bill was bulldozed through the House and termed it a brazen assault on the Constitution.

“Yesterday, the Wakf Amendment Bill, 2024 was passed in the Lok Sabha and today it is scheduled to come up in the Rajya Sabha. The bill was in effect bulldozed through. Our party’s position is clear. The Bill is a brazen assault on the Constitution itself,” she said.

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After passage from Parliament, Waqf Bill awaits President’s nod: Details here

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New Delhi, April 4: The Waqf (Amendment) Bill was passed by Rajya Sabha in the wee hours of Friday after a marathon debate, involving heated exchanges between the treasury and opposition benches. The Upper House debated the bill for nearly 14 hours and then cleared it with 128 votes in favour and 95 against.

The legislation was earlier cleared by the Lok Sabha after nearly 12 hours debate, with 288 votes in favour and 232 against.

With this, both the Houses have cleared the decks for amendments in the Waqf Bill of 1995 and repealing the Mussalman Wakf Act of 1923.

The next course of action is the Presidential assent for the bill, following which it will turn into a law.

The Bill will be sent to President Droupadi Murmu soon and her approval will pave the way for amending the 1995 laws, governing Waqf properties.

According to a leading portal, the government is expecting a smaller window for the approval, unlike the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

The NDA government, which is projecting the Waqf Amendment Bill as one of key milestone decision in first year of Modi 3.0 is expected to notify it for implementation, soon after getting President’s nod.

Interestingly, one of the major highlights of Rajya Sabha voting last night, was Biju Janata Dal (BJD)’s stand on the contentious bill.

As per the numbers of NDA and INDIA bloc, the bill was expected to sail through in Rajya Sabha but with a lower margin as compared to Lok Sabha. NDA was expected to get support of 123 MPs but ended up securing 128 votes in favour while INDIA bloc ended at 95 (as against expected figure of 98).

Hours before the voting, Naveen Patknaik-led BJD opened the gates for “conscience vote’, telling its 7 MPs that they would not be bound by a whip and could vote for whichever side they wanted.

Some BJD MPs cross-voted in favour of NDA, there bettering its tally than earlier expected. A total of 119 votes was needed for the bill to get through but BJP’s efficient floor management helped it secure 128 votes.

Meanwhile, Congress has stated that it will challenge the constitutionality of the Waqf legislation in the Supreme Court.

“The INC will very soon be challenging in the Supreme Court the constitutionality of the Wakf (Amendment) Bill, 2024,” he wrote in a post on X.

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Congress MP Imran Masood calls for banning liquor during Navratri

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Saharanpur, March 29: Congress lawmaker Imran Masood said on Saturday that not just meat shops, liquor establishments should be shut during the nine-day festival of Navratri and called for embracing and promoting the spirit of brotherhood and communal harmony.

“Everybody is demanding a ban on meat shops during Navratri. Why is no one asking for a ban on liquor shops? Why is there no outpouring on the free flow of liquor during Navratri? Will this not spoil the purity and sanctity of the festival?” Saharanpur MP said in a special interaction with media.

The Congress Parliamentarian said that peaceful celebration supersedes everything, and it is incumbent upon all communities to maintain decorum during festivities and also make certain sacrifices, be it Eid or Navratri.

Notably, Eid-ul-Fitr and Navratri are coinciding on the same day this year. Both festivals are set to fall on Monday, with little possibility of change in the Eid schedule on account of moon sighting.

Days ago, the Congress MP also extended support to the demands of a meat ban during Navratri celebrations. In an apparent message to the Muslim community, he said that nothing would change if one did not eat meat for ten days.

“What matters above everything is the peaceful co-existence of communities. At no point in time, the differences over food preferences lead to communal strife,” Masood told newspersons.

Congress MP, when asked questions on the party’s strategy for the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, said that the Opposition is fully prepared to take on the Centre on “partisan legislation”.

“We opposed the amendments in the JPC meeting, tooth and nail. We will strongly voice our dissent in Parliament too,” he said.

Notably, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Friday that the Waqf Bill will not be delayed any further and will be reintroduced in the ongoing session of Parliament.

Only four working days of the Budget Session are left, as it concludes on April 4.

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