In poll-bound Bihar, INDIA bloc hardens stand on Waqf Act

As the electoral winds gather force over Bihar, the INDIA bloc signalled a decisive hardening of its stance on the contentious Waqf (Amendment) Act — a law it now vows to strike down if voted to power.

At the vanguard stood Tejashwi Yadav, the RJD’s youthful chief ministerial candidate and political heir to Lalu Prasad’s legacy, who thundered from the stage in Seemanchal that the “objectionable” legislation would be “consigned to the dustbin of history” the moment his alliance assumes office.

The statement, made a day after RJD MLC Abdul Qari Saheb’s fiery threat to “tear the Act to shreds” stirred controversy, found resonance across the INDIA spectrum. In Katihar, a district with a substantial Muslim population, Tejashwi’s rhetoric drew public applause — and a political nod from Congress veteran Tariq Anwar, the local MP and former Union minister.

“We fully back Tejashwi’s stand,” Anwar declared after meeting state party leaders.

Back in Patna, Dipankar Bhattacharya, the cerebral CPI(ML) Liberation leader and a key INDIA ally, released his party’s manifesto — the Parivartan Sankalp Patra — and matched Yadav’s defiance with ideological clarity.

“We will thwart the implementation of the Waqf (Amendment) Act in Bihar,” Bhattacharya vowed. “And not just this — we will resist every such central law that undermines the federal spirit of our Constitution.”

The Left leader didn’t stop there. Taking aim at the Nitish Kumar government’s flagship prohibition policy, he termed the liquor ban “farcical”, promising a “critical review” should the INDIA bloc form the government. The prohibition law, in force since 2016, has long courted controversy — hailed as a social reform by some, decried as unworkable by others, with periodic hooch tragedies underscoring its failures.

Meanwhile, the political cauldron continues to simmer on other fronts. Prashant Kishor, the strategist-turned-politician who heads the fledgling Jan Suraaj Party, added his own populist punch, promising to “scrap the bogus (farji) prohibition law on Day One” and channel the resulting revenue into Bihar’s development.

Senior leader K.C. Venugopal announced that Rahul Gandhi will tour the state on 29 and 30 October, followed by rallies by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Mallikarjun Kharge, as the party seeks to sharpen its message post-Chhath festivities.

On the opposite side of the political divide, the BJP has already unleashed its star campaigners in a blitzkrieg of rallies. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is slated to address rallies in Muzaffarpur and Chhapra on 30 October, and again in Bhojpur and Nawada on 2 November, capped by a grand roadshow in Patna.

Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the BJP’s election in-charge for Bihar, was seen walking the streets of the state capital, assessing arrangements for the roadshow.

Adding another layer of intrigue, Nitish Kumar and Chirag Paswan — once bitter adversaries — presented a tableau of unity when the JD(U) chief visited Paswan’s residence to partake of kharna prasad on the eve of Chhath. The meeting, rich in symbolism, comes amid murmurs of discontent within the NDA over seat allocations.

Though Nitish is said to be privately unhappy with JD(U) getting parity with the BJP in seat-sharing — a first in his long career — both leaders sought to project harmony. Paswan dismissed reports of tension as “false narratives” spun by the opposition.

The Hajipur MP, now a Union minister and once a confidant of Tejashwi Yadav, didn’t hold back in attacking his former friend. “Tejashwi should remember,” he quipped, “that his father was disqualified because Rahul Gandhi tore up an ordinance meant to protect convicted politicians. The same Rahul Gandhi now stands beside him.”

As Bihar braces for its high-stakes election, the battle lines could not be starker — on one side, an emboldened INDIA bloc rallying around issues of faith, federalism, and reform; on the other, NDA anchored by Modi’s mass appeal and Nitish’s seasoned pragmatism.

Between them stands an electorate long accustomed to political theatre — watching closely, weighing promises, and waiting, as always, for the next twist in Bihar’s restless saga of power and politics.

With PTI inputs