Bhubaneswar: Amid the row over Waqf Bill voting, Muzibulla Khan, BJD’s lone Muslim representative in Rajya Sabha, is scheduled to meet party president & Leader of Opposition (LoP) Naveen Patnaik on Monday.
The Rajya Sabha member, popularly known as Munna Khan, has urged the BJD chief to issue a clarification on the party’s last-minute change in stand on the Bill. “During the Parliamentary Board meeting, it was clearly decided that the BJD would oppose the Bill. This was not a vague discussion — it was a clear and unanimous decision, and even our party president Naveen Patnaik himself had instructed us to vote against it,” he told reporters after arriving in Bhubaneswar this afternoon.
He mentioned about a rally, which he led from Unit IV here, following which a memorandum against the Bill was submitted with the Governor. “At the Iftar party, the BJD chief reiterated the party’s opposition to it,” he said.
Khan also criticised fellow MP Sasmit Patra for publicly supporting the Bill. “If anyone wants to join the BJP, they are free to go. No one is stopping them. But you cannot speak the language of another party while being in the BJD. This double-faced politics has no place in BJD. Such individual decisions not only go against party discipline but also confuse the public and hurt the sentiments of minority communities,” he said.
He also revealed that his calls to Sasmit to discuss the matter went unanswered.
The MP added that he would take up the matter directly with the BJD president and urge him to take action. “There is a need for clarity within the party. The sudden decision, which was taken hours before the voting without our knowledge, has not only shocked me, but also thousands of people in our community. They are looking for an answer. We cannot afford to have party leaders speaking in different voices on such important issues,” Khan stressed.
He added that the decision led to split voting and dented the party’s image.
The BJD, which initially decided to oppose the Bill arguing that the Muslim community, the primary stakeholder, was not consulted prior to the introduction of the (Waqf) legislation, had allowed its members to vote on their conscience, triggering resentment within the party with some raising questions over its secular credentials.
Muslims make up about 2.17% of the state’s 4.5 crore population.
Khan had represented the party during the debate and vocally opposed the Bill, raising concerns from the Muslim community over the inclusion of non-Muslims in Waqf Boards. However, the absence of a party whip suggested that other lawmakers diverged from this position. The decision was conveyed to its 7 MPs on April 3 evening. While he voted against the Bill, Sasmit supported the legislation. BJD MP Debashish Samantaray abstained from voting in the Upper House, which cleared the Bill with 128 members voting in favour and 95 opposing it.
The positions of Manas Mangaraj, Sulata Deo, Niranjan Bisi and Subhasish Khuntia remain undisclosed.
