Bengaluru: Minister for Food and Civil Supplies, Minorities and Haj Zameer Ahmed Khan caught his own partymen by surprise in the Legislative Council on Thursday when he promised an investigation by the CBI into the alleged misuse of Wakf properties in the state.
Urban Development Minister U T Khader hastily intervened to advise Mr Khan against making such an assurance , prompting the latter to withdaew his statement, much to the anger of the BJP leaders. The Congress has steadfastly maintained there is no truth in the report of Mr Anwar Manippady, former chairman of the Karnataka State Minority Commission, which has claimed large scale misuse of Wakf properties across the state.
The matter was raised in the House during question hour by Mr Arun Shahpur of the BJP, who wanted to know what action the government had taken based on the Manippady report. Mr Khan began by toeing the party line, recalling that Mr Manippady had submitted his report during the tenure of the BJP government headed by Mr D V Sadananda Gowda, which did not act on it as it did not find it authentic enough. The last Congress government headed by Mr Siddaramaiah too had rejected it after consultation with the advocate general and legal department, he noted.
“Why did the BJP government not refer the report to the CBI if it was true?” he asked. But when Opposition leader Kota Srinivasa Pujari and other members of the BJP demanded that the present government refer the report to the CBI for a detailed inquiry, Mr Khan surprised his partymen by promptly agreeing.
While the BJP members welcomed his decision by thumping the tables, Mr Jabbar of the Congress intervened to say that the matter could not be referred to the CBI as it was pending before a court. Mr U T Khader too joined in and going up to Mr Khan, asked him to withdraw his statement.
Apparently realising his faux pas, Mr Khan did a quick U-turn and said he only offered to look into the report and not refer it to the CBI. Although the opposition members took objection to his sudden volte face, Mr Khan stuck to his stand. The BJP members let the matter drop after the Chairman promised to look into the records to see what Mr Khan had actually said on the issue.
