Bhopal, Jul 07: Congress leaders have termed the reorganisation of the Madhya Pradesh Waqf Board with the inclusion of two Hindu members as “inappropriate” and said they would challenge the decision in the Supreme Court.

Leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, said the decision should not be viewed through the prism of religion, as the Waqf Board is not limited to mosques. The Waqf Board chief also said the move was in strict adherence to legal provisions.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Sunday reorganised the state Waqf Board, adding two Hindu members. The new board, formed under the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, is the first state-level Waqf Board in the country to appoint Hindu members, officials said.

Sanwar Patel has been appointed chairman of the 10-member Madhya Pradesh Waqf Board, and Manoj Malpani and Animesh Bhargava have been included as Hindu members. Patel was first appointed chairman of the Madhya Pradesh Waqf Board in 2023. He has now been given a second consecutive term.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Congress MLA Arif Masood said the matter related to the Waqf Act is already pending before the Supreme Court and a final decision is yet to be given.

Such appointments should not have been made until the final decision of the apex court, he opined.

“In such a situation, the Madhya Pradesh government’s reorganisation of the Waqf Board and inclusion of non-Muslim members is inappropriate and raises several legal questions. We will approach the Supreme Court and challenge the formation and appointment of the Waqf Board members,” he said.

Speaking to PTI Videos, former minister and senior Congress leader PC Sharma criticised the BJP for appointing Hindu members to the Waqf Board, alleging the ruling party has no issues other than “Hindu-Muslim” and “India-Pakistan”.

He claimed this step was taken to divert public attention from the theft of offerings at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya and the allegations against Chief Minister Yadav.

Hitting back, Sanwar Patel said the board has been reconstituted in “strict adherence to legal provisions”.

“Opposition parties are politicising the issue and provoking people. They have to politicise everything,” he told PTI.

State minister Vishwas Sarang said it was heartening that Madhya Pradesh has become the first state in the country to enact the Waqf Act 2026 and include two Hindu members.

Congratulating Chief Minister Yadav and the Waqf Board chairman, he said this would have far-reaching and positive consequences.

On the objections from Congress leaders, he said, “This is not about including any non-Muslim in the mosque committee; the Waqf Board is separate. It is surprising to view this through the lens of religion. The Waqf Board isn’t limited to mosques; its scope is much broader.”

BJP MLA Rameshwar Sharma said only those who have encroached upon Waqf lands should be offended.

“The Waqf Board’s land belongs to India, and everyone talks about the Ganga-Jamuni culture. It’s part of the country’s culture. It’s land to be given to the poor. Waqf land hasn’t been named after any mullah or cleric,” he said.

Sharma said Hindu members of the Waqf Board will also be committed to the welfare of the poor.

“Muslims shouldn’t be bothered by this; those who were embezzling Waqf property will definitely be bothered,” he added.

According to a state government notification, the 10-member board includes Sanwar Patel, Najma Heptulla, Atif Aqeel, Faizan Khan, Fatema Chaudhary, Shaista Sultan, Shabana Khan, Manoj Malpani and Animesh Bhargava.

The commissioner of the state’s Backward Classes and Minority Welfare Department is an ex-officio member of the board.

The Waqf Board is a statutory body established to manage and protect Waqf properties in the state. Its main function is to maintain records of Waqf properties, monitor their use and income, protect them from illegal encroachments, and ensure their use for religious, educational, and social welfare purposes.

Newly appointed Army chief General Dhiraj Seth on Monday called on President Droupadi Murmu at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here.

The president’s office shared a picture of the meeting in a post on X.

“Chief of the Army Staff General Dhiraj Seth along with spouse Smt Komal Seth called on President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan,” it said.

General Seth, an accomplished military officer with the rare distinction of heading two operational Army commands along the western front, took charge as the new Chief of the Army Staff on June 30.

Kolkata, Jul 6: Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Monday said Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee had sacrificed his life for the complete integration of Jammu and Kashmir with rest of the country.
Addressing a commemorative programme in Kolkata to mark Mookerjee’s 125th birth anniversary, Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had realised Mookerjee’s resolve of ‘One Nation, One Constitution’ by scrapping Article 370 and asserted that Jammu and Kashmir was now an integral part of India.
“Mookerjee gave the slogan, ‘One country cannot have two constitutions, two heads and two symbols.’ He died under suspicious circumstances in a Kashmir jail while pursuing that cause, and the then government did not investigate his death. PM Modi fulfilled his resolve by uprooting Article 370. Today, Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India,” Shah said.

The programme was attended by West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat while PM Modi addressed the gathering through a video message.
Shah announced that the foundation stone had been laid for a 125-foot statue of Mookerjee in Kolkata, describing it as more than the construction of a monument.
“This is not merely the foundation-laying ceremony for a statue, but the beginning of the resolve to build ‘Sonar Bangla’,” he said.
The Home Minister said the statue would be installed on the banks of Kolkata’s largest man-made lake and that the site would also house the Shyama Prasad Mookerjee Institute, dedicated to research on India’s national security.

Congratulating the West Bengal government for declaring Mookerjee’s birth anniversary a public holiday, Shah said the decision honoured one of Bengal’s foremost nationalist leaders. 
He also expressed hope that the state government would soon implement Mookerjee’s vision regarding the promotion of Indian languages.
Recalling Mookerjee’s political journey, Shah said he had resigned from the first Union Cabinet in protest against the Nehru-Liaquat Pact, which he believed failed to safeguard the interests of Hindus who had remained in Pakistan and East Pakistan while focusing on Muslims who stayed in India.
“He believed the agreement was one-sided, and therefore resigned from the Cabinet,” Shah said.
He said that the BJP-led government had since enacted the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) to grant citizenship to persecuted Hindus and reiterated the Centre’s commitment to identify and deport infiltrators from India.

“We have abolished Article 370, granted citizenship to refugee Hindus, and will identify and remove every infiltrator to make India completely secure,” Shah said.
Describing Mookerjee as a multifaceted leader, he said he founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh to unite nationalist forces and lay the foundation of cultural nationalism.
“The seed sown by Mookerjee has today grown into the banyan tree called the Bharatiya Janata Party,” he said, adding that the organisation founded by Mookerjee now governed nearly two-thirds of India’s territory and population.

Shah said Mookerjee believed that the policies of independent India should reflect “the fragrance of India’s soil” rather than be influenced by Western thinking. 

He said PM Modi was translating that vision into reality by pursuing development while preserving India’s cultural heritage, with the goal of building a developed India by 2047.
He also described Mookerjee as the common source of nationalist ideas such as cultural nationalism, the vision of an undivided India, and the principle of balancing development with heritage.

Referring to Bengal’s historical legacy, Shah said the rebuilding of the state envisioned by Rabindranath Tagore, Ramakrishna Paramahansa, Swami Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, and Raja Rammohan Roy had begun with the current government.
The Home Minister said the coincidence of the 150th anniversary of “Vande Mataram” and the 125th birth anniversary of Mookerjee in the same year carried symbolic significance. 

He said efforts had begun to encourage the full rendition of “Vande Mataram” so that younger generations could proudly pay tribute to the homeland.
Listing initiatives undertaken by the newly elected West Bengal government, Shah said the Annapurna Yojana, Ujjwala 3.0, free bus travel for women and girl students, the Lakhpati Didi Mission, and the implementation of Ayushman Bharat providing free treatment up to Rs 5 lakh for poor families had been rolled out.
He said construction of a cancer hospital in north Bengal had begun, land had been handed over to the Border Security Force for border fencing and a committee headed by Justice Brijendra Nath had been constituted to investigate corruption.
“Those involved in corruption should be prepared to return every rupee looted from the poor once the committee submits its report,” Shah said.
He said another committee had been set up to investigate crimes against women, approvals had been granted for prosecution in long-pending corruption cases and a committee had also been formed to examine implementation of the Uniform Civil Code in the state.

Shah said the West Bengal Maintenance of Public Order (Amendment) Bill, 2026, had been passed as part of the government’s promise to take strict action against criminals.
He said the process of identifying and deporting infiltrators from the state had begun and that a “Durga Suraksha Squad” had been constituted to enhance the safety of women.

Accusing previous Left Front and Trinamool Congress governments of pushing Bengal backwards, Shah expressed confidence that the government led by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari would fulfil every promise made in its election manifesto within five years and lay a strong foundation for “Sonar Bangla”.

He said Mookerjee, whom he credited with helping save Bengal, Kashmir, and Assam, had not received the memorial he deserved until now, and expressed confidence that the new memorial in Kolkata would inspire future generations.