Alleging ‘arbitrary actions and high handedness’, of the chairman of Joint Parliamentary Committee on Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024, parliamentarian and ruling party veteran Kalyan Banerjee informed that the members of the Opposition parties of INDIA bloc have decided to boycott the upcoming five cities’ tour of the JPC, scheduled to start from 9 November.

The Lok Sabha member of Trinamul Congress, who is one of the members of the JPC on Waqf 2024, was speaking during a Press conference in which Rajya Sabha MP Nadimul Haque was also present. According to the TMP MP from Serampore, a tour of the JPC on Waqf, planned in haste by the chairman, Jagdambika Pal, is scheduled to take place from 9 November. The Committee members will visit five cities in six days. However, LS members of the opposition parties, including TMC, have decided to boycott the tour as the programme is hectic.

As informed by Mr Banerjee, the MPS from the opposition parties wrote a letter and met the Speaker earlier this month pointing out the ‘arbitrary and highhandedness’ of the JPC chairman for Waqf Bill 2024, Jagdambika Pal. “All the decisions taken by the JPC chairman were arbitrary,” claimed Mr Banerjee. “The chairman never fixed any date of the meetings in consultation with us. He also did not consult us for tour dates. He used to call persons from organisations that are close to the BJP but have no stake at all in the Waqf Bill,” he added.

Mr Banerjee also alleged that the constitutional morality as well as the proceedings of the meetings was violated by the chairman. “We met the Speaker and pointed out our issues. He had agreed that fixation of two days in a week was really hectic. The Speaker assured us that he will look into the matter of at least the immediate two issues of postponement of the tour and fixation of two days in week. But, we found that till yesterday, no steps had been taken on the issue,” said the MP.

The MP also claimed that there was some political agenda in handling the Bill with haste. “But as per my observation, after the Maharashtra and Jharkhand poll results, which they will lose, there will not be any haste,” he added.