What are the NDA’s biggest U-turns?

The Centre’s Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024, sought to effectively address issues related to State Waqf Boards and waqf properties. But, political critics claimed it would infringe upon the rights to property and religious freedom besides encroaching on state powers. This forced the government to send it to a Joint Parliamentary Committee for wider scrutiny.

Another U-turn was with the plan to remove indexation benefits on long-term capital gains tax. The proposal in Budget 2024-25 didn’t go down well with the public. So, the indexation benefits had to be restored. Homeowners now have the option to pay LTCG tax at 20 per cent with indexation benefit or at 12.5 per cent without indexation benefit for properties acquired before July 23, 2024.

Then there’s the Broadcast Bill. The Centre has withdrawn the second draft of the Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill 2024 after concerns about some provisions and the consultation process. So, now the government has invited feedback from the public on the first draft. All these U-turns happened in 2024.

In 2021, massive protests against the farm laws forced the government to withdraw them. For almost a year, farmers protested against The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020; and The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020.

These laws were passed in September 2020. But, the Supreme Court put a stay on their implementation in January 2021.

Before that, in 2015, the Centre revoked the contentious land bill amendments about the consent of affected families and social impact assessment… The Modi-led government had managed to get the Land Acquisition Bill cleared in the Lok Sabha. But, opposition in the Rajya Sabha led the government to drop the amendments.