BJP slams Tejashwi Yadav’s vow to toss Waqf Act into the ‘dustbin’ calling it ‘Namazvad, not Samajwad’

By The Sampadak Express

The BJP on Monday launched a scathing attack on Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav over his remarks against the amended Waqf Act, accusing the opposition INDIA bloc of using the façade of socialism (“samajwaad”) to push religious appeasement or “namazwaad”.

Addressing a press conference, BJP national spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sudhanshu Trivedi said Tejashwi’s statement that his alliance would “throw the amended Waqf Act into the dustbin” if voted to power in Bihar, shows blatant disrespect for the Constitution, Parliament, and judiciary. The Act, passed by Parliament, is currently under scrutiny in the Supreme Court.

Trivedi alleged that the INDIA bloc, comprising RJD, Congress, and Left parties in Bihar, wants to reshape the Constitution along religious lines, stating, “They want to turn the Constitution into a Sharia script. Their slogan of ‘Samvidhan Bachao’ (Save the Constitution) is just a mask. Their real intent is ‘Sharia Lao’ (Bring Sharia).”

He further claimed that opposition parties are attempting to misuse Waqf land for vote-bank politics, accusing them of concentrating vast community properties into the hands of a few unelected Muslim religious figures. “Socialism stands for equitable distribution, but these so-called socialist parties are doing the opposite,” he said.

Trivedi pointed out that Waqf provisions being pushed by the opposition are not even implemented in countries like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, or Turkiye. He also noted that the Quran does not mention the concept of Waqf explicitly, suggesting that the opposition was trying to replace Ambedkar’s Constitution with a “maulvis’ script”.

The BJP also criticised Tejashwi’s comments made during the ‘Save Waqf, Save Constitution’ rally held on Sunday at Patna’s historic Gandhi Maidan. The RJD leader had stated that the ruling NDA in Bihar was “on its way out”, and the Waqf Act brought in by the Modi government would be scrapped once the opposition comes to power.

Countering this, Trivedi reaffirmed the NDA’s commitment to Ambedkar’s values, saying, “We will not allow any part of the Constitution to be thrown into the dustbin.”

He also dismissed the opposition’s criticism of the Election Commission’s voter roll revision in Bihar as baseless, saying such reviews are routine and necessary to ensure only eligible citizens vote. He accused opposition parties of wanting to retain “fake voters” due to their “defeatist mindset”.

Trivedi further invoked historical instances, including the Congress’s decision in 1986 to overturn the Supreme Court’s Shah Bano verdict under pressure from orthodox Muslim leaders, highlighting how secularism has often been compromised for political gain.

In closing, Trivedi quoted lines from renowned poet Adam Gondvi to mock what he termed the opposition’s “hypocritical socialism”.

Assembly elections in Bihar are expected to be held later this year in October-November, and political rhetoric has escalated as parties position themselves for a high-stakes battle.