The decision of secular parties like Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party and Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal United to support the contentious Waqf Amendment Bill has raised eyebrows in political circles. But at the bottom of it was BJP’s efforts to secure support on contentious issues from coalition partners, sources said.

Traditionally, the TDP and the JD(U) – heavily dependent on Muslim support — have taken a stance at variance from the BJP on issues concerning Muslims, especially on matters like the Uniform Civil Code. But behind-the-scenes discussions have led the BJP to convince these parties to support the bill, sources said.

Before introducing the bill in August, senior ministers had informed the TDP and JD(U) leadership about its importance. They also consulted leaders from allies Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti and Jayant Chaudhary’s Rashtriya Lok Dal, explaining its necessity and emphasizing that it aimed to protect Muslim interests and ensure women’s rights, rather than polarise communities as the Opposition alleged.

Although the allies agreed with the broad outline, they had concerns about certain provisions, particularly regarding the impact on existing Waqf properties and encroachment on state governments’ rights. 

Subsequently, the bill was sent to the Joint Parliamentary Committee, which accepted 14 amendments that included significant suggestions from the JD(U) and TDP.

The JD(U) emphasised that the new law should not be applied retrospectively to avoid interference with existing mosques, shrines, or other Muslim religious sites. 

They also insisted on consulting states regarding decisions on Waqf land, as land is a state subject. The TDP advocated for maintaining states’ autonomy and suggested appointing senior officials above the collector level for dispute resolution and extending the timeline for uploading Waqf-related documents on the portal.

The revised bill incorporated these suggestions, leading to its approval by the cabinet. 

Leaders of the JD(U) and TDP have expressed their support for the bill, highlighting its alignment with Muslim women’s and marginalized communities’ interests. The LJP and RLD have also backed the bill.

Before the bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha, Home Minister Amit Shah met JD(U) leaders Lallan Singh and Sanjay Jha at Parliament House, informing them that the party’s suggestions had been incorporated into the bill.

During the Lok Sabha debate, Lallan Singh strongly supported the bill, dismissing concerns that it was against Muslim interests. He highlighted the steps taken by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for the welfare of Muslims, referencing them multiple times in light of the upcoming Bihar elections. 

Similarly, TDP’s KP Tenneti emphasised that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu had made several decisions benefiting Muslims. 

The TDP supported the bill, focusing on the interests of Muslim women, youth, and marginalised communities. Other BJP allies, including LJP, Hindustan Awam Morcha, and the RLD, also aligned with this stance.

Taking allies on board on the bill reflects the continuity in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership style from his second to third term, sources have said.

Self-styled godman Nithyananda fled India in 2019, leaving behind a sprawling religious empire, after being accused of child abduction, sexual assault and abuse, and claimed to have founded the nation of ‘Kailasa’, calling it a “safe haven for practising, aspiring or persecuted Hindus”. Representatives of the ‘country’ attended a UN meeting in 2023, signed a ‘sister cities’ agreement with Newark in the US and had their photos taken with many leaders across the globe. But their luck may have finally run out.

Officials in the South American country of Bolivia said last week that they have arrested 20 people linked to ‘Kailasa’ after they signed 1,000-year leases with indigenous groups in the country for vast tracts of the Amazon, the New York Times reported.

The agreements were nullified and the representatives of the fake country were deported to the real nations they belonged to, including India, the US and China.

“Bolivia does not maintain diplomatic relations with the alleged nation ‘United States of Kailasa,'” Bolivia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the New York Times.

Representatives of ‘Kailasa’ had managed to get a photo taken with the president of Bolivia, Luis Arce and Bolivian newspaper El Deber said leases had been signed with indigenous groups.

Pedro Guasico, a leader of the Baure, one of the indigenous groups, said its contact with ‘Kailasa’ representatives had begun in late 2024, after they offered help with forest fires.

They then negotiated a lease for land “three times the size of New Delhi” and the Baure agreed to a 25-year deal which would net them nearly $200,000 annually. The ‘Kailasa’ representatives’ draft, though, was for a lease of 1,000 years and included the use of airspace and extraction of natural resources.

The Baure signed the lease. “We made the mistake of listening to them. They offered us that money as an annual bonus for conserving and protecting our territory, but it was completely false,” Mr Guasico was quoted as saying by the New York Times.

New ‘Country’

Nithyananda had a large following in India before he was arrested in connection with a sex scandal in 2010. Reports had said that after fleeing India in 2019 following sexual assault allegations, he had bought an island off the coast of Ecuador, another South American country. ‘Kailasa’, Nithyananda and his followers announced on YouTube, was dedicated to the “preservation, restoration and revival of an enlightened culture and civilisation based on authentic Hinduism”.

Nithyananda had said that his new status as the head of a state granted him immunity.

In 2023, representatives of ‘Kailasa’ had attended a United Nations meeting and demanded protection for the “supreme pontiff of Hinduism”.

The meeting of United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) was held in Geneva and videos showed one of the representatives – a woman in a saree wearing a turban – extolling the sustainable development initiatives taken by her ‘country’.

She also claimed Nithyananda has been targeted for reviving the ancient traditions of Hinduism and was banned from his birth country and asked the UN body what measures can be taken ”at national and international levels” to stop his persecution.

Quotable quotes

Nithyananda is known for his quotable quotes, many of which are shared widely and often mocked on social media.

“So the me resides in this as me is residing in all of that as me so that me through this me talking to me,” the self-styled godman had famously said.

“I am going to be active, healthy at least for the next 150 years. The Hindu enemies and Hindu traitors wasted a lot of my time and I don’t go and attack them or react to them… I just decide to live longer,” he had said.

The Rajya Sabha debates the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, following its passage in the Lok Sabha. With the NDA holding a slight numerical advantage in the Upper House, the bill, if approved, will proceed to the President for final assent.