With the Bihar Assembly election just a few months away, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) allies who have a traditional Muslim vote bank have been thrown into a fix over their support for the Waqf Amendment Bill. Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal United (JDU) and the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) are now scrambling to minimise the fallout following the resignations of Muslim leaders. On the other hand, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has gotten enough fodder to target the ruling alliance, painting the chief minister as an RSS sympathiser and non-secular.
Amid the resignation of five Muslim leaders from JDU in just three days over the party's support for the Waqf Amendment Bill in Parliament, the RJD has intensified its attack. The party shared a photo of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in RSS attire on X, captioned "Cheatish Kumar," and on Saturday, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav declared that if his party came to power, it would "discard the new law."
Damage control
In response, the JDU has downplayed the resignations, claiming the leaders who left the party are insignificant. The party's minority cell also held a press conference on Saturday defending the Bill. However, even some senior Muslim leaders, like former Rajya Sabha MP Ghulam Rasool Baliyawi and party MLC Ghulam Gous, have expressed their discontent, signalling discomfort within the party.
The party's national spokesperson, Rajiv Ranjan Prasad, was quoted by the Indian Express as saying that the Waqf Bill has been misunderstood by some of their leaders, who claim it is a progressive law. He added that the party is in touch with its leaders to help them better understand the bill.
The Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) is also facing criticism, with some district-level Muslim leaders voicing their opposition. Party chief and Union Minister Chirag Paswan’s estranged uncle, Pashupati Kumar Paras, who leads the Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (a faction of the LJP), has condemned the Waqf Act, claiming it offends the sentiments of a certain community. Paras, who shares the same voter base as Chirag’s faction, is believed to be aligning himself with the RJD as Chirag continues to hold a key position in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
On Saturday, Chirag Paswan told the media that he understands the anger and discontent among the Muslim community over the bill and respects their sentiments.
He also recalled how his late father, Ram Vilas Paswan, fought for minorities, despite facing criticism in 2014 when he supported the Modi government. “You didn’t remember how my father almost finished his party in 2005 by insisting that Bihar should have a Muslim Chief Minister. The truth is that my leader (Ram Vilas Paswan) always fought for social justice with full dedication. I have the same blood in my veins and have been brought up with the same values. Time will tell whether my decisions were in your favour or not,” he said.
He also emphasised that his party had thoroughly reviewed each clause of the Bill and insisted it be sent to the Joint Committee of Parliament, asserting that the law would ultimately benefit poor Muslims.
Consequences feared in Bihar elections
Social Justice parties in Bihar have never played the politics of polarisation and thus have had support among Muslims in various degrees. Both the JD(U) and the LJP have had support among minorities over the years. However, their support base has been consistently declining since 2014 following the advent of the Narendra Modi-led BJP at the Centre.
Angered by the party's stance, JDU's state Minority Cell secretary Mohammad Shahnawaz Mallik, Bettiah (West Champaran) district vice-president Nadeem Akhtar, state general secretary (Minority Cell) Mohammad Tabrez Siddiqui Alig, and party member from Bhojpur Mohammad Dilshan Rayeen resigned last week. One of the resignation letters specifically mentions that the party's support for the passage of the Bill will have a significant impact on the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections.
