AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan resigns as Delhi Waqf Board member

New Delhi: AAP MLA and former chairman of the Delhi Waqf Board, Amanatullah Khan, on Wednesday resigned as a member of the Board, saying that his step might prompt the Lieutenant Governor to reconstitute the panel.

The process of the reconstitution of the Waqf Board is underway and Khan was elected as its member in November last year. Amid allegations of corruption involving Khan, the Delhi Waqf Board was dissolved by then Lt Governor Najeeb Jung and a CBI probe was ordered by him in October 2016.

"Due to me, the L-G is not forming the board (Delhi Waqf Board). I am resigning as the member of the board and now, I hope that the L-G will form the board, which will benefit our community," Khan told reporters here.

He said that he has sent his resignation letter to Lt Governor Anil Baijal, through the Delhi Assembly Speaker. "The BJP and the Congress do not want me to become the Chairperson of the board that is headless for around one-and-a-half years," Khan alleged.

The BJP MLAs had met Baijal complaining that Khan is "set" to become Waqf Board chairman. Khan alleged that the Lt Governor was under "pressure" not to appoint the new chairperson of the Waqf Board. "The L-G should tell under whose pressure he is not appointing the chairperson," he charged.

The issue was today also discussed in Delhi Assembly with ruling AAP alleging that Lt Governor Anil Baijal does not want to appoint the chairperson of the Delhi Waqf Board, which is leading to "corruption and misuse" of its property. Revenue Minister Kailash Gahlot sought to know why the Lt Governor was not appointing the chairperson despite the fact that all laid down procedure have been followed.

The minister appealed to the L-G to appoint the Waqf Board chairperson while participating in a discussion over the issue in the Delhi Assembly. Khan, the MLA from Okhla, had held the post of the Waqf Board chairman for nearly six months, and resigned in September 2016, amid allegations of irregularities.