Rahul Gandhi was present during the Lok Sabha debate on Waqf Bill, he didn’t just turn up to vote
On 05 April 2025, the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025 became an Act after receiving assent from the President of India, Droupadi Murmu (here, here). The Bill had earlier been passed by both Houses of the Indian Parliament. It was passed in the Lok Sabha on 03 April 2025 following a lengthy debate, with 288 MPs voting in favour of the Bill and 232 voting against it (here, here). In the early hours of 04 April 2025, the Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha, where 128 MPs voted in favour and 95 voted against (here, here). All amendments proposed by the Opposition were rejected. In this context, a post accompanied by a video clip of the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, entering Parliament at night is being widely circulated on social media platforms (here, here, here, and here). The post claims that Rahul Gandhi was absent from the entire discussion on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha and arrived late at night only to cast his vote. Through this article, let us fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Rahul Gandhi was absent for the entire discussion on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill and came at night only to cast his vote.
Fact: Rahul Gandhi was present in the Lok Sabha during the discussion on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill. However, he did not participate in the debate on the Bill in the Lok Sabha. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
To verify the accuracy of the viral claim, we reviewed videos of the Lok Sabha proceedings from 02 April 2025 and 03 April 2025, available on the official YouTube channel of the Indian Parliament, ‘Sansad TV’.
We found that Rahul Gandhi was present in the House when Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi from Jorhat, Assam, shared his views on the Bill at 1:12 pm on 02 April 2025. The video was uploaded on 2 April 2025 with the title: “LS | Gaurav Gogoi | The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025 & The Mussalman Wakf (Repeal) Bill, 2024.” In this video, at the 04:31 timestamp, Rahul Gandhi can be seen seated in the House.
Rahul Gandhi was also present in the House when Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Kalyan Banerjee from Sreerampur, West Bengal, spoke on the Bill at 2:30 pm on 02 April 2025. This video was shared on 2 April 2025 with the title: “LS | Kalyan Banerjee | The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025 & The Mussalman Wakf (Repeal) Bill, 2024.” At the 08:44 timestamp, Rahul Gandhi can again be seen seated in the Parliament.
We also found that Rahul Gandhi was present in the House when INC MP K. C. Venugopal from Alappuzha, Kerala, spoke on the Bill at around 6:00 pm on 02 April 2025. This video, also shared on 2 April 2025, with the title: “LS | K. C. Venugopal | The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025 & The Mussalman Wakf (Repeal) Bill, 2024.” At the 10:59 timestamp, Gandhi is visible seated in the House.
The voting on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill began at around 12:00 am on 03 April 2025. A video showing the voting process on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha was shared on the official ‘Sansad TV’ YouTube channel, with the title: “LS | Voting & Passing | The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025 & The Mussalman Wakf (Repeal) Bill, 2024.” In this video, at the 39:53 timestamp, Rahul Gandhi is visible seated in the House.
From this information, it is evident that Rahul Gandhi was present in the Lok Sabha during the discussion on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill. However, he did not participate in the debate on the Bill in the House (here, here, here, and here).
To sum it up, Rahul Gandhi was present in the Lok Sabha during the discussion on the Waqf Bill, but he did not participate in the debate.