'Samajwaad' cover for 'Namazwaad': BJP slams RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav's stand on Waqf Act

New Delhi: The BJP on Monday accused the opposition alliance of trying to turn the Constitution into a "sharia script" and using the garb of "samajwaad" (socialism) to hide its "namazwaad", as it slammed RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav for asserting that his bloc, if elected to power in Bihar, will throw the amended Waqf Act in dustbin.

BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said the INDIA bloc of the RJD-Congress-Left in Bihar has shown its absence of respect for the Constitution, as the Act was passed by Parliament and is being adjudicated in the Supreme Court.

He told reporters that the opposition alliance is driven by vote bank politics, a euphemism for its outreach to Muslim voters over the opposition to the Act from a large number of them.

Trivedi alleged that the INDIA bloc wants to enforce Sharia provisions through the back door.

States like Telangana and Karnataka are giving reservations to Muslims at the cost of quotas for Hindu OBCs, SCs and STs, and West Bengal is also trying to do it, he said.

He underlined the BJP-led NDA's commitment to the values of the Constitution drafted by B R Ambedkar.

He said, "'Samvidhan bachao' is merely a facade of these parties as their true face is 'sharia lao'. If they are in power, they will add 'namazwaad' to the Constitution's preamble. They want to turn the Constitution into a Sharia script, but we will not allow it."

RJD's Tejashwi Yadav on Sunday claimed that the ruling NDA in Bihar was "on its way out", and the new government in the state led by the opposition alliance will "consign to the dustbin" the Waqf Act brought by the Narendra Modi dispensation at the Centre.

The leader was addressing a 'Save Waqf, Save Constitution' rally at the historical Gandhi Maidan in Bihar's capital, Patna. Elections in Bihar will be held later this year.

The BJP spokesperson said the ruling National Democratic Alliance will not allow any provisions of Ambedkar's Constitution to be thrown into the dustbin.

Slamming opposition parties, he said the sharia provisions they are advocating are not in force in even Islamic countries, including Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Turkiye.

These parties want to concentrate huge portions of Waqf land into the hands of some self-appointed Muslim religious leaders, he said, adding that these properties were never used for the welfare of the community.

Socialism believes in the distribution of wealth, but socialist parties like the RJD and the Samajwadi Party are doing the opposite and are, in fact, with a few self-appointed Muslim leaders, he said. This is not samajwaad but namazwaad, he alleged.