TDP backs Waqf Bill: 'Properties worth ₹1.2 lakh crore underused, must benefit Muslims'

Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party - a key ally in the NDA - has backed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025. During the debate on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill in Lok Sabha, TDP's Krishna Prasad Tenneti voiced firm support for the legislation, citing the underutilisation of Waqf assets and the need to channel them toward the upliftment of the Muslim community, especially its youth, and women.

"The Muslim community in our country needs to be provided with support for their upliftment. Minority community faces economic, social hardships,” Tenneti said in the House. “In the light of these challenges, the presence of vast properties valued at over ₹1.2 lakh crores and covering at least 36.18 lakh acres presents an opportunity for social and economic transformation. These properties have largely been underutilised due to administrative inefficiencies and mismanagement, and several times with malafide intention. Our party firmly believes that these resources must be used for further welfare of the Muslim community, particularly youth and women.”

He lauded the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) process that shaped the final draft of the Bill, calling it “one of the most inclusive in the entire parliamentary history.” Tenneti said, “The functioning of JPC has been both extensive and transparent...YSRCP has merely played politics. Their representative attended just 18 of 38 JPC meetings, whereas our party attended 90 per cent of meetings to protect rights of Muslims.”

Stating that the Bill was crucial for “Muslim women, youth, and downtrodden,” Tenneti added, “Hoping that earlier suggestion of giving flexibility to the states will be given consideration while framing the rule of the Act – we support the Waqf Amendment Bill.”

The JDU, another key ally in the NDA government, has also backed the Waqf Bill. JD(U) leader and Union Minister Lalan Singh slammed Opposition parties for resisting the legislation. “People who are against the legislation are either trying to woo their vote bank or are fearing they might lose the land they own through Waqf,” Singh said.

Union Minister Kiren Rijiju, who tabled the Bill, clarified that the proposed law deals with property management and not religious matters. He said the Bill seeks to correct the overriding authority given to Waqf boards under amendments made by the UPA government and ensures transparency, audit mechanisms, and modernised digital oversight of Waqf properties.

The Bill is set to be renamed the Unified Waqf Management Empowerment, Efficiency and Development (UMEED) Bill. It also includes provisions like inheritance rights for women before Waqf declaration, state control over Waqf boards, inclusion of non-Muslim members, removal of the controversial Waqf user clause, and restriction of Waqf claims on tribal lands.