Hyderabad: Reacting to an exclusive news break by Deccan Chronicle, the Congress party on Wednesday demanded the removal of welfare minister Gangula Kamalakar from the state cabinet for his attempt to encroach upon 15 acres of prime Wakf Board property in the outskirts of Karimnagar city.
"Minister Kamalakar is trying to encroach upon prime Wakf property through fraudulent means. When he failed to register 15 acres of land on his name, he went to court against his own government. Therefore, he should be immediately sacked from the cabinet. There are two moral reasons that mandate his being fired - one, for his attempt to grab Wakf property and, second, for opposing a law formed by his own government," Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee minorities department chairman Shaik Abdulllah Sohail said.
Sohail pointed out that 55 acres of lands in Survey Nos. 122, 126, 129, 154 and 177 in Qazipur of Karimnagar district are Wakf lands and their records are available in the Wakf Gazette issued on 11th January, 1990. Minister Kamalakar has been trying to grab this prime land since 2008. He even tried to register these lands on his name in 2015.
The minister, along with other individuals, approached the district authorities for issue of the Ownership Right Certificate (ORD) by treating the above land as 'Inam Land' which was rejected by the Revenue Divisional Officer, Sohail said.
However, he secured the ORC through the Joint Collector. "It is highly regrettable that the Wakf Board did not challenge the joint collector's order in the court," he said.
The local authorities have exempted 15 acres of land from registration as per GO 15 issued by the Telangana Government under the new Revenue Act. "Minister Kamalakar has challenged the new Revenue Act, passed by his own government, describing it as 'illegal and arbitrary'".
"The minister has made Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, district collector of Karimnagar, State Wakf Board and other revenue officials as respondents. He will certainly misuse his position as a minister to influence the case. Therefore, he should be immediately dismissed from the cabinet," he demanded.
