Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan likely to be third-time chief of Delhi Waqf Board

Khan, who has served as chairman of the Board twice before, filed his nomination papers for election to the post of member-MLA of the seven-member panel on Monday, government officials said. The process of reconstitution of the Delhi Waqf Board (DWB) has been set in motion with the commencement of the nomination process.

Okhla MLA Amantullah Khan is likely to return as chairman of the Delhi Waqf Board for the third time in a row. Khan, who has served as chairman of the Board twice before, filed his nomination papers for election to the post of member-MLA of the seven-member panel on Monday, government officials said.

The process of reconstitution of the Delhi Waqf Board (DWB) has been set in motion with the commencement of the nomination process. The seven members of the Waqf Board include four elected ones -- an MLA, a current or former Member of Parliament, a 'mutawalli' (manager or custodian) and a Bar Council member.

The remaining three are nominated members, including a Delhi government officer (this post is also vacant), a social worker and a Muslim scholar, officials said. A public notice was issued earlier by the revenue department of Delhi government for the election of member-MLA of the DWB on August 25.

The last date for filing nomination papers for the post is August 17. Scrutiny of the papers will be conducted the next day and the last date of withdrawal of nomination is August 19, stated the notice. The ruling AAP has five Muslim MLAs, but the member-MLA has always been elected unopposed, officials said.

After election of member-MLA, the chairperson of the Board will be elected. The members of the panel elect one among themselves as the chairperson. The post of member-MLA fell vacant due to the Assembly elections earlier this year. Khan who was chairman of the Board, ceased to be a member after announcement of the Assembly polls in Delhi, the officials said.

Khan, was re-elected from the Okhla seat once again with a huge margin, and now is a frontrunner for the post of member-MLA as well as chairperson of the Waqf Board, officials said. The election of new chairperson of the Delhi Waqf Board will take place after election of member-MLA and nomination of an official by the Delhi government  to fill the vacant government official-member post, a Waqf Board officer said.

Khan previously served as chairman of the Board for around six months in 2016 before resigning in May, and again from September 2018 to March 2020. The Waqf Board is custodian of over 2,000 properties such as mosques, graveyards, schools, residential buildings, shops and land parcels across the national capital.

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