Home Minister Amit Shah and Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav were engaged in a wordy duel in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday during the debate on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill.
The two leaders took jibes at each other over their respective party presidents, though they kept smiling through the exchange, maintaining decorum in the House.
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It all started when the SP leader stood up to speak on the controversial Waqf (Amendment) Bill. While slamming the BJP and the Centre over discriminatory amendments in the legislation, he said the party that projects itself as the world’s largest has not been able to hold elections for party president.
The home minister was quick to retort. “For family-run parties, it is very easy to pick their presidents. But, the BJP, with its over 12 crore party workers, undertakes an extensive exercise to elect its leader,” he remarked amid peals of laughter. He told Mr Yadav, ”In your case, it will not take much time. I am saying that you will remain president for 25 years.”
To this, Mr Yadav indirectly referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Nagpur recently for an RSS event and wondered whether the ‘yatra’ was for an ‘extension’.
The SP MP accused the Centre of targeting Muslims by bringing contentious amendments in the Waqf Bill and also of depriving them of their ownership rights.
He further stated, “There is a fight within the BJP leaders to prove who is the ‘worst Hindu’ and stated that this was being done to garner support from one community.
