Opposition members of the Joint Committee (JPC) on the Waqf Amendment Bill have decided to boycott the committee’s upcoming five-state tour, stating that the committee Chairman is functioning in an arbitrary manner and that their request to defer the tour was ignored.
The committee was scheduled to begin its tour of Guwahati, Bhubaneswar, Kolkata, Patna, and Lucknow from Saturday to hold discussions with various stakeholders.
Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee, explaining the decision, said the opposition is unhappy with the hectic tour schedule, which conflicts with their prior commitments. He highlighted the upcoming elections in Jharkhand, bye-elections in Bengal, and festivals, making it difficult for members to participate.
“We have our own schedules; how can we do this?” Banerjee asked.
“We are disappointed that the tours were not deferred. We had brought this to the Speaker’s attention. We have our own commitments–how can we accommodate this? The tours are extremely hectic. We are being prevented from working in our constituencies. Jharkhand has elections, Bengal has bye-elections, and there are festivals. They are rushing this process. Despite our request to the Speaker to postpone, nothing has been done,” he said.
The MP also accused the chairman of the committee of making a mockery of the process.
AIMIM Lok Sabha member Asaduddin Owaisi also echoed the same sentiment. He tweeted, “The Committee does not have investigation powers, its job is to look into the Bill alone. Moreover, the Chairman cannot act unilaterally and the Committee has to act collectively”.
The opposition JPC members met with the Lok Sabha Speaker on November 5, seeking a deferment of the schedule and a reduction in the number of meeting days of the JPC from two days a week to either one day a week or two consecutive days every fortnight.