 "Waqf Bill panel meet: TMC MP smashes glass bottle during heated exchange")
The ongoing meeting of the parliamentary panel on Waqf Bill turned dramatic on Tuesday when Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee smashed a glass water bottle and threw it away during a heated exchange of words with Bharatiya Janata Party's Abhijit Gangopadhyay.
As a result of the outburst, Banerjee injured his thumb and index finger, and was given first aid. Later, he was escorted back to the meeting room by AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi and AAP leader Sanjay Singh.
Later, Banerjee was suspended from the panel for one day over his unruly behaviour.
Later, Banerjee was suspended from the panel for one day over his unruly behaviour.
The Joint Committee of Parliament on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, under the chairmanship of BJP's Jagdambika Pal, was holding a meeting to take into consideration the views of various stakeholders.
Gangopadhyay is a BJP MP from West Bengal’s Tamluk. The former Calcutta high court judge had resigned from his position earlier this year to join the saffron party. A vocal critic of the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC, he had said that his political entry was meant to fight against TMC’s corruption.
Joint parliamentary panel on Waqf bill
The committee was formed on August 13 after the Opposition parties had criticised the Centre over the Bill, labelling it as an “attack on the federal system”. The Bill seeks to overhaul the existing Waqf Act by introducing sweeping changes, including representation of Muslim women, non-Muslims in institutions among other measures. After the Opposition demanded a parliamentary committee for broader consultation over the bill, a committee was announced comprising 31 members of various political parties.
There are 21 Lok Sabha members and 10 Rajya Sabha members in the panel. Of these, 20 members are from the ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. Besides four Congress-led INDIA bloc MPs, one of the Rajya Sabha panel members is from the non-aligned YSRCP’s V Vijayasai Reddy. A nominated member, Dharmasthala Veerendra Heggadc, is also a part of the panel.