Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has stated that his government will initiate action against Congress leaders accused in a major Waqf land scam, which allegedly took place in Maharashtra between 2000 and 2014.

“The Maharashtra government will soon crack down on a massive Waqf land scam in Maharashtra between 2000 and 2014. A lot of Waqf land has been seized by the Congress. A huge scam took place between 2000 and 2014. All big Congress leaders were named in it. I had even raised this issue in the Maharashtra assembly.

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A committee was formed, headed by a judge. The committee had reported that these leaders had seized Waqf land. Now we will take action in this matter,” Fadnavis said.

However, when asked to name Congress leaders involved in the alleged Waqf land scam, Fadnavis said that he could not remember any names but claimed that many prominent Congress leaders were involved.

“The Waqf Amendment Bill has nothing to do with Hindutva. The Waqf Amendment Bill is in line with the constitutional spirit of a democratic, socialist republic of India, and the decision to pass this bill for the benefit of the society is historic. If the property is in the name of Allah, then it should be transparent, and it should be used for the benefit of the people,” Fadnavis stated.

“The earlier Waqf law was too cumbersome and was draconian in nature. There was no system of appeal. If my house was declared as a Waqf property, I had no way to appeal. In fact, the Supreme Court itself had passed several observations at different times, saying it was misutilised. This was done only to appease a community. How can it be constitutional if there is no right to appeal? As per the new Waqf (Amendment) Act, these draconian provisions have been changed, and now it will be transparent due to which people will benefit,” Fadnavis said.

Fadnavis criticised opposition parties for opposing the Waqf Bill, claiming that their policy is “appeasement of minorities”.

“They are now criticising us due to sheer frustration. It is their policy of appeasement that makes them do it. They also know that the Bill is constitutional. They just want to please their constituency. They should wake up after facing so many defeats now. They should understand that appeasement will only divide society,” Fadnavis said.