BJP Ally TDP Wants One Key Change In Waqf Bill: Report (image: x.com/JaiTDP)

New Delhi: As the Waqf (Amendment) Bill to be tabled in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday (April 2), the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), one major ally in the BJP-led NDA will likely to urge for one amendment, an Indian Express report said.

As per the reports, the party may raise concerns over the proposal in the Bill allowing non-Muslims in state Waqf Boards. The sources told the publication that they will leave such representation in the board to the discretion of the respective states.

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The TDP would extend support to all other amendments to the bill including the inclusion of women in Waqf boards, and lauded it as “progressive change,” the report said.

The party on Tuesday has issued whip to its 16 MPs to be present in the Lok Sabha and support the government.

The TDP leaders including its supremo and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu held discussions till almost midnight Tuesday, communicating with legal experts regarding the provisions of the Bill and its implications.

Aside from this, Naidu has also been in talks with Muslim groups to see what is acceptable to them and what is not, Indian Express report added. Later, the TDP MPs were instructed about what to say in the Parliament. Muslims constitute an influential vote bank for TDP in Andhra.

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The reworked Waqf (Amendment) Bill, also called the ‘Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency, and Development (UMEED) will be re-introduced in the Lok Sabha by Union Minister Kiren Rijiju. The bill is already facing stiff resistance from the opposition groups including the INDIA bloc and prominent Muslim groups, including the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB).