‘A leader who is out on bail…’: PM Modi targets Tejashwi over Waqf Act remarks after NDA’s poll sweep; hails Bihar’s rejection of ‘communal poison’ | India News

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday took a swipe at Tejashwi Yadav without naming him, recalling the RJD leader’s earlier remark on what would happen to the Waqf Amendment Act if the opposition Mahagathbandhan alliance came to power in Bihar. PM Modi’s comments came a day after the Mahagathbandhan suffered a heavy defeat in the Bihar assembly elections, with the ruling NDA sweeping the state. Tejashwi Yadav was the opposition alliance’s chief ministerial candidate.“In Bihar, public land was frequently encroached upon and converted into Waqf property. We have seen a similar situation in Tamil Nadu, where even centuries-old villages were declared as Waqf,” the prime minister said in Surat, in his home state of Gujarat, while addressing members of the Bihar community.He added that encroachments of public land by the Waqf Board were the reason the government introduced reforms to the Waqf law.“A leader who is now out on bail, along with his allies, would tear up copies of the law and claim they would never allow it in Bihar. But the people of Bihar rejected this communal poison completely and chose the path of development,” PM Modi said, referring to Tejashwi Yadav, who — along with members of his family — is out on bail in the alleged land-for-jobs money laundering case. At a public rally in the Muslim-dominated Katihar district on October 26, Yadav had vowed that if the Mahagathbandhan came to power, the Waqf Amendment Act would be “thrown into the dustbin.”The RJD leader’s comments came a day after a controversy triggered by party MLA Qari Sohaib, who had declared that the legislation would be “torn apart” if Tejashwi became chief minister.The Waqf (Amendment) Act was passed by Parliament in April. While the government described the law as a step toward transparency and an instrument to empower backward Muslims and women in the community, the opposition argued that it infringes upon the rights of Muslims.On September 15, the Supreme Court, stayed a few key provisions of the law while upholding its constitutionality.