Opposition MPs in the joint committee of Parliament scrutinising the Waqf (Amendment) Bill are scheduled to meet Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday to protest its chairperson and BJP MP Jagdambika Pal’s alleged “unilateral” decisions and attempts to “bulldoze” proceedings.

Claiming that they have been “stonewalled” during the committee’s proceedings, Opposition MPs have listed their grievances, including objections against the proposed law, in the letter addressed to Birla.

Opposition sources said they have prepared a joint letter – signed by a number of MPs, including the Congress’s Mohammad Jawed and Imran Masood, DMK’s A Raja, AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi, Aam Aadmi Party’s Sanjay Singh and Trinamool Congress’s Kalyan Banerjee – that will be submitted it to the Speaker on Tuesday.

In context: The committee’s proceedings have been marred by frequent protests from Opposition members over a host of issues, while the BJP members have accused them of deliberately trying to scuttle its work. The panel is working in overdrive to meet its deadline of the first week of Parliament’s winter session.

Opposition MPs have also recorded their strong reservations against the Bill, claiming that the government’s step is nothing but a surreptitious attempt to mitigate the earlier legislations of 1995 and 2013, enacted by Parliament with due care ensuring the secular credentials of the Constitution.

The BJP-led NDA members had also gone to Birla once after TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee smashed a glass bottle during the panel’s meeting, injuring his two fingers.

Recommended reading: Why Waqf panel depositions have triggered a BJP-Opposition spat

With the deadline to withdraw nominations now passed, parties are set to begin their campaigns in earnest in poll-bound Jharkhand and Maharashtra with clarity on the alliances’ candidate lists.

In Maharashtra, both the ruling Mahayuti and Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) were involved in hectic parleys with rebel candidates on Sunday in an attempt to get them to stand down and avoid any division of votes ahead of the Monday deadline to withdraw nominations.

After the nomination window closed on October 29, there were at least 50 rebels from both sides with the potential to damage the electoral prospects of their party’s official candidates.

On Tuesday, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray is expected to launch his campaign for the Maharashtra Assembly polls, beginning in the Konkan and Vidarbha regions with a focus on the constituencies of the MLAs who were part of the 2022 rebellion led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

Thackeray will address a rally in Ratnagiri, a seat represented by state industries minister Uday Samant. He will also canvas votes for party MLA Rajan Salvi who is contesting from neighbouring Rajapur constituency.

In Jharkhand, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi campaigned on Monday and Union Home Minister Amit Shah launched the BJP’s manifesto on Sunday, the party has deputed Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to the state to address rallies in Hatia and Lohardaga on Tuesday. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will also address a public meeting in Jamshedpur on Tuesday.

For the Congress, which is in the ruling alliance with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), national president Mallikarjun Kharge is expected to be in the state on Tuesday.

– With PTI inputs