"Unfortunate": Lok Sabha Speaker Chides Sonia Gandhi Over Waqf Bill Remarks

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Friday chided former Congress president Sonia Gandhi over her Waqf (Amendment) Bill was "bulldozed through" remarks, and said a senior member casting aspersions on the House proceedings was "most unfortunate" as well as against the dignity of parliamentary democracy.

Without taking the name of Mrs Gandhi, who is a member of the Rajya Sabha, Mr Birla took a stern view on her remarks after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju raised the issue and asked the Speaker to render a ruling on it.

Addressing party MPs at a meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party in Samvidhan Sadan here on Thursday, Mrs Gandhi had said, "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. It is very much part of the BJP's deliberate strategy to keep our society in a state of permanent polarization."

With Mr Rijiju calling for a ruling on the matter, Mr Birla said a senior member of the Congress, who has been a member of this House and is currently a member of the other House, made remarks in Parliament House complex that the Waqf (Amendment) Bill was bulldozed through.

Mr Birla pointed out that on the Waqf (Amendment) bill the Lower House had a debate for 13 hours and 53 minutes in which several members of various parties participated.

"There was division thrice on the bill and it was passes as per the rules of the House. That is why it is highly unfortunate that despite the House sitting till late night and passing the bill after a long debate, a senior member is casting aspersions on the House proceedings which is not appropriate," Mr Birla said.

"It is not in accordance with the dignity of parliamentary democracy," he said.

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