People like Mamata Banerjee try to break India...: Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar

"People like Mamata Banerjee try to break India. Due to the Waqf Act which has existed so far, Hindus and Muslims are in a dispute at several places in India...People like Mamata Banerjee do politics of breaking and through appeasement politics they stay in power. They are not concerned about the country. If she needs to shake hands with Pakistan or Bangladesh to stay in power, Mamata Banerjee will not shy away from it. She wants power," Majumdar said.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Samik Bhattacharya attacked West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and said that the latter wants to divide on the basis of religion.

"Mamata Banerjee's politics are divisive. She wants to divide on the basis of religion... If she stays in power for any longer, then West Bengal will become West Bangladesh. The majority community of India and West Bengal have united, and now Mamata's departure is fixed. Mamata Banerjee cannot bring any bill to the Parliament. She won't be able to be into politics after two years," Bhattacharya said.

BJP MP Ravi Kishan said that Mamata Banerjee is losing ground in West Bengal.

"Mamata Banerjee is losing ground in her state ahead of the upcoming elections. She should focus on that first... This bill has been passed. The poor Muslims are happy. Sweets were distributed in Gorakhpur as celebrations erupted," Kishan said.

Union Minister SP Singh Baghel said the Bill is for the welfare of common Muslims.

"After the lengthy discussions on the Waqf Bill, especially with the statements of Amit Shah and Kiren Rijiju, all doubts, rumours and misconceptions generated by so-called secular leaders and Muslim leaders have been done away with. The Bill is for the welfare of common Muslims," Baghel said.

Earlier, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the BJP of introducing the Waqf Amendment Bill to "divide the country" and promised to reverse it through an amendment if a new government comes to power at the Centre.

Addressing a press conference in Nabanna, CM Mamata Banerjee said, "This was done intentionally, politically, to divide the country. But one day, they will go away, and the other Government will come. At that time, you must remember there will be another amendment, and it will be passed in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha."

Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi also criticized the BJP-led government after the bill was passed in the Lok Sabha. She called it a "brazen assault" on the Constitution and accused the BJP of keeping society in a state of "permanent polarization."

"Yesterday, the Waqf Amendment Bill, 2024, was passed in the Lok Sabha, and today it is scheduled to come up in the Rajya Sabha. The bill was in effect, bulldozed through. Our party's position is clear. The Bill is a brazen assault on the Constitution itself. It is very much part of the BJP's deliberate strategy to keep our society in a state of permanent polarization," Sonia Gandhi said.

Lok Sabha, which took up discussion on the Waqf (Amendment Bill) on Wednesday, passed it past midnight after a marathon debate.

The government introduced the revised bill after incorporating the recommendations of the Joint Parliamentary Committee, which examined the legislation introduced in August last year. The bill seeks to amend the Act of 1995 and improve the administration and management of waqf properties in India.

The Bill aims to overcome the shortcomings of the previous act and enhance the efficiency of Waqf boards, improving the registration process and increasing the role of technology in managing waqf records.