MVA-appointed man with Dawood-link member of Waqf Board, alleges Fadnavis; HM says otherwise

State home minister Dilip Walse Patil later informed the lower house that the appointment was made during the Fadnavis government

Mumbai In another pen drive submitted in the legislative Assembly, leader of opposition and BJP lawmaker Devendra Fadnavis alleged that Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government appointed a member on the Waqf Board with links to fugitive gangster and terrorist Dawood Ibrahim.

Fadnavis said that Waqf Board member Mudassir Lambe, who is facing rape charges, was in a conversation with one Mohammad Arshad Khan and said that his father-in-law was an associate of Dawood (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT PHOTO)

However, state home minister Dilip Walse Patil later informed the lower house that the appointment was made during the Fadnavis government.

Fadnavis said that Waqf Board member Mudassir Lambe, who is facing rape charges, was in a conversation with one Mohammad Arshad Khan and said that his father-in-law was an associate of Dawood and he was in touch with the gangster. Fadnavis said that he gets calls from the gangster in case of any issue at the home. Fadnavis submitted a pen drive to the presiding officer of the lower house claiming it contained the audio clip of the conversation between Khan and Lambe.

The Waqf Board comes under the Minority Affairs department headed by Nawab Malik, who has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case on February 23.

Malik’s daughter and NCP’s women cell vice president Sana Malik-Shaikh tweeted a photograph of Lambe with Fadnavis. In her tweet, she said, “Half Truth is Full Lie!! Dr. Lambe was appointed a Waqf Board member by Fadnavis/BJP govt on 13 Sept 2019. Maha Vikas Aghadi govt was established in November 2019. My father got Minority/Waqf Dept in the first week of Jan 2020.@Dev_Fadnavis with D-Gang Relative & a Rape Accused.”

Meanwhile, during a debate on the state budget presented on March 11 by the deputy chief minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar, Fadnavis criticized the state government for the fallen revenue, rising debt and fiscal mismanagement. He said that the state government failed to make an allocation for key social schemes and the projects utilized as MVA’s pet projects. “The imbalance in the allocation of the funds to the departments held by ruling parties is evident. The departments controlled by NCP have got a major share of 57% while, the departments under Congress and Shiv Sena have got 26% and 16% respectively,” he said.