Today in Politics: First sitting of Parliamentary panel on Waqf Bill; Rahul, Kharge in J&K amid buzz of alliance with NC

The representatives from the Minority Affairs Ministry are also expected to brief the committee on the “amendments proposed on the Bill”, the secretariat said.

In context: The Bill is the first major initiative from the BJP-led NDA government aimed at reforming the registration process for Waqf properties through a centralised portal. It proposes several reforms, including establishing a Central Waqf Council alongside state Waqf Boards with representation to Muslim women and non-Muslim representatives.

A contentious provision of the Bill is the proposal to designate the district collector as the primary authority in determining whether a property is classified as Waqf or government land.

The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 8 and referred to a joint committee of Parliament after a heated debate, with the government asserting the proposed law did not intend to interfere with the functioning of mosques and the opposition calling it a targeting of Muslims and an attack on the Constitution.

Recommended Reading: As parliamentary panel on Waqf Bill prepares to meet, Muslim outfits reach out to BJP allies

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Rahul, Kharge in J&K to take stock of poll preparedness

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge will be in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday to take stock of the party’s preparations for the upcoming Assembly elections in the Union Territory and explore a likely alliance with the National Conference.

While there were no official meetings scheduled for the two leaders for Wednesday, they will engage in extensive discussions with party leaders and workers of 10 districts of the Kashmir valley on Thursday, a Congress leader said. The meetings will begin at 10 am after which the two are likely to interact with the media in Srinagar. They are also likely to meet National Conference (NC) leadership to discuss a possible pre-poll alliance.

After wrapping up interactions in Srinagar, they will fly to Jammu in the afternoon to continue their interactions with the cadres of 10 districts of the Jammu region.

Congress protest to seek JPC probe, SEBI chief’s ouster

The state units of the Congress will hold a nationwide protest on Thursday against Hindenburg Research’s latest allegations against SEBI chief Madhabi Puri Buch.

As a part of the protest, the Odisha Congress said it will gherao the Enforcement Directorate (ED) office in Bhubaneswar while the party’s Delhi unit will stage a demonstration at Jantar Mantar.

Hindenburg Research had, on August 10, accused Buch and her husband Dhaval of having stakes in obscure offshore funds used in the alleged Adani money siphoning scandal.

The Congress had also said it will hold 20 press conferences across the country to highlight the need for a joint parliamentary committee probe into the matter which has “widespread ramifications for the economy”.

Siddaramaiah calls for CLP meeting

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has convened a Congress Legislative Party (CLP) meeting on Thursday in the wake of Karnataka Governor Thaawar Chand Gehlot granting permission to prosecute him in the alleged site allotment scam in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA).

According to a statement issued by the chief minister’s office, the meeting will be held in Vidhana Soudha’s conference Hall.

Karnataka Minister for Information Technology and Biotechnology, Priyank Kharge said, “Since there is a huge uproar about the Governor’s role, we need to apprise our people. Ultimately they are public representatives; 136 MLAs need to know what is happening.”

Sources confirmed that the meeting is related to the MUDA developments, where the CM will brief Congress legislators about the facts of the case and will chalk out a strategy to fight the case legally and politically.

ED likely to respond to Kavitha bail plea in SC

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is likely to file its response to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC K Kavitha’s bail plea in the Supreme Court on Friday.

The ED on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that it will file its response to the leader’s plea in a money laundering case linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam by August 22.

Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), told a bench of Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan that the CBI’s counter affidavit has already been filed in the matter. Raju said the ED’s counter affidavit was in the “pipeline” and would be filed by August 22.

The ED arrested Kavitha (46) from her Banjara Hills residence in Hyderabad on March 15. The CBI arrested her on April 11 from Tihar jail in connection with the corruption case.

BRS protest against Cong government over farm loan waiver

The Opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) on Thursday will hold protests seeking unconditional implementation of farm loan waiver by the Congress government in Telangana.

Addressing a press conference, BRS Working President K T Rama Rao accused Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and his ministerial colleagues of “deceiving” farmers on loan waiver of up to Rs 2 lakhs.

“The BRS will hold state-wide protests at mandal centres on August 22 against the deception by the Chief Minister, his Cabinet colleagues and the Congress government over the crop loan waiver. The government earlier gave a deadline to waive the crop loan by December 9 and August 15, but failed to do so,” he said on Wednesday.

Vijay to launch party’s flag

Top Tamil actor Vijay, who heads the Tamizhaga Vetri Kazhagam, will launch his political party’s flag on Thursday.

In a statement on social media platform X, he said he would unveil the flag and hoist it at the party office at Panaiyur in Chennai and also introduce the flag song.

In February, Vijay had announced the launch of Tamizhaga Vetri Kazhagam and said he will be contesting the 2026 Assembly polls. His party did not support any political bloc in the recent Lok Sabha elections, where the DMK-led alliance swept the polls in Tamil Nadu.

– With PTI inputs