TDP leader Abdul Aziz elected Andhra Pradesh Waqf Board Chairman

Vijayawada, Dec 17 (IANS) Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader Abdul Aziz was unanimously elected as the Chairman of the Andhra Pradesh State Waqf Board on Tuesday.

A meeting of the State Waqf Board was held here on Tuesday, where the chairman was elected unanimously. Prakasam district Collector A. Thameem Ansariya, a member of the Board was elected as the presiding member to conduct the meeting.

The members present in the meeting unanimously elected Abdul Aziz, a member of, the AP State Waqf Board as Chairperson.

After his election, Abdul Aziz, who is the TDP in charge of the Nellore Parliamentary constituency, said under the coalition government the Waqf Board will make historic decisions.

He said due to the vacuum created in the Board in the past, it could not make decisions.

Abdul Aziz said Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu told him that since he was being assigned the task of protecting the god’s properties, he should discharge his responsibilities carefully.

He said Chandrababu Naidu revived the Board which protects the properties of the god. He said some people made baseless allegations against the Chief Minister.

“The Waqf Board should not only protect the assets but it should generate income and ensure that society benefits from it,” he said.

The TDP leader said that protecting Waqf properties is the responsibility of the government and the Waqf Board.

Abdul Aziz said out of 60,000 acres of Waqf land, 32,000 acres were under encroachment.

He vowed to bring reforms to the Waqf Board with the cooperation of the Chief Minister.

 The state government reconstituted the State Waqf Board on December 6 with the appointment of eight members, a week after dissolving the earlier Board.

Under the elected members category, the government appointed Members of the Legislative Council Md Ruhullah and Mutawalli Shaik Khaja.

The government also nominated TDP leader Abdul Aziz, Shia scholar Haji Mukarram Hussain and Sunni scholar Mohammad Ismail Baig.

Three other members were nominated by invoking section 14 (3). They are MLA Mohammed Naseer, Syed Dawood Basha Baqavi and Shaik Akram.

The TDP-led NDA government reconstituted the Waqf Board a week after dissolving the earlier Board constituted last year by the YSR Congress Party government.

The Minorities Welfare Department on November 30 issued a G.O., withdrawing the G.O. issued in October last year, constituting the Waqf Board.

The then government of YSR Congress Party had constituted the 11-member Waqf Board. Three of them were elected members while the remaining were nominated.

On a petition challenging the process followed to constitute the Waqf Board, the Andhra Pradesh High Court on November 1, 2023, stayed the election of the chairperson of the State Waqf Board.

The G.O. 75 issued on November 30 that the Chief Executive Officer of the State Waqf Board brought to the government’s attention the prolonged non-functioning of the Board and the pendency of writ petitions questioning the legality of G.O. Ms. No. 47 to resolve the litigations and prevent an administrative vacuum.