JDU MLC Ghulam Gauss demands Waqf bill withdrawal

A day after meeting Lalu Prasad Yadav, JDU MLC Ghulam Gauss has demanded that the government should withdraw the Waqf bill. Gauss told ET that he will request his party leader and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar not to support this bill.

"I was the first person to oppose the Waqf Amendment Bill. Ever since this central government has come, there is love jihad, CAA, mob lynching, triple talaq, and now this. This is our religious matter...you (the Centre) did nothing. The scholarship given by the Maulana Azad Foundation was also stopped...unity in diversity is our speciality. I will raise all these issues before chief minister Nitish Kumar," Gauss told ET.

Gauss added that this is his personal view and the views of the minority community of Bihar. Gauss had met RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav on Monday at the latter's residence leading to the speculation that he might move towards the Opposition camp.


"It was just a courtesy call on the festival of Eid. We have been friends for long and the meeting should not be considered a political one," Gauss told ET.

However, another JDU MLC from the minority community, Khalid Anwar, stands with the party on the bill.

"My stand is what our party's stand is. The bill should come but it should look after the interests of the minority community and should include the amendments suggested by our leaders," Anwar told ET.