The Janata Dal (United) Party, headed by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, is facing internal discord on the support of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025. Many Muslim leaders have also resigned from the parchi. The JDU leaders resigned include Nadeem Akhtar, Raju Nayar, JDU Minority Department General Secretary Tabrej Siddiqui Alig, JDU minority state secretaries Mohammad Shahnawaz Malik and Mohammad Qasim Ansari. However, the party also tried to control it. Muslim leaders held a press conference on Saturday. During this time three Muslim leaders of the party were also present who were constantly opposing Waqf.
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Muslim organization angry
After the President’s approval, this bill has now become a law. Eight major Muslim organizations, including All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), Bhawan-e-Sharia and Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind, boycotted the Iftar party on 23 March before the bill was passed. Some major non-Muslim leaders of the party are also said to be unhappy with the party’s stand. Despite this, Nitish Kumar’s party supported the Waqf Bill. The state assembly elections are to be held in October, so JD (U) has a sharp debate in Bihar politics on its possible electoral impact.
Pressure on Nitish
This led to speculation whether Nitish Kumar and his party’s support to the Waqf Amendment Bill would affect his possibilities in the upcoming Bihar elections. The Bihar assembly elections of 2025 will be held in October-November 2025 for all 243 constituencies. Nitish Kumar has inherited secular socialism, but he has also shown a lot of readiness in forming a strategic alliance with the BJP. The tension between these two approaches has been clear from time to time. Apart from this, in the situation now, JDU assumes that it does not get the support of Muslims after an alliance with BJP. Despite this, Nitish Kumar keeps saying what he has done in Bihar.
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There is no harm to the party
Nitish Kumar has no longer left much support from Muslims. So supporting Waqf is a thought-up risk. However, JDU has a “plus point”. JD (U) gets almost equal vote share in every election, but the “structure” of the party’s voter base varies based on its coalition partners. JD (U) has a fixed vote share of about 12 percent. This includes 4-5 percent Muslim-Yadav vote share in the event of an alliance with RJD and 4-5 percent upper caste, OBC and EBC vote share in the event of alliance with BJP. In this way, the vote share of JD (U) in both cases becomes 16-17 percent. The positive side of JD (U) is that when JD (U) combines with a party, it does not harm its coalition partners.