Former Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik announced BJD's opposition to the 2024 Waqf Act Amendment, citing a need to maintain communal harmony and a secular image.

Biju Janata Dal opposes Waqf Bill, emphasizing commitment to communal harmony and minority rights, despite lack of Lok Sabha representation.

The Biju Janata Dal announced on Thursday that it will oppose the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, which is currently under the scrutiny of a Joint Parliamentary Committee.

Addressing a meeting of the party’s minority cell at the party headquarters Sankha Bhawan, Patnaik said there was “a sense of insecurity” among minorities, whose representatives he meets regularly. The Waqf (Amendment) Bill proposes several key changes to the Waqf Act of 1995,