With the Kerala State Waqf Board completing the registration of the controversial land in Munambam village in Ernakulam on the Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development (UMEED) portal, a centralised digital platform launched by the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs for the registration, real-time verification, and monitoring of Waqf properties across India, the State unit of the BJP has upped the ante against the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF).

BJP State president Rajeev Chandrasekhar said the land in Munambam was registered on the UMEED portal as soon as the Congress-led UDF alliance came to power, alleging it was part of the UDF’s vote-bank politics. Stating that the Kerala Waqf Board knows exactly who its masters are, Mr. Chandrasekhar said not even an inch of Munambam land would be given to anyone as the party has the support of the Union government, two Union Ministers, MPs, three MLAs, and 30 lakh voters from Kerala.

“The Congress, controlled by Jamaat-e-Islami and SDPI, will never be able to stand up for all Malayalis. This is not just a land dispute. The people of Munambam know exactly who is standing firmly with them,” he said.

Former BJP state president K. Surendran alleged that Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan, who had earlier announced that the Munambam issue would be resolved in 10 minutes if the UDF came to power, was deceiving the residents of Munambam and the Church. The BJP had earlier pointed out that Mr. Satheesan and the UDF were blatantly cheating the residents of Munambam and the Church.

The High Court had ordered the status quo to continue in Munambam. Currently, the possession certificates and tax records are in the names of the residents of Munambam. Then, what forged document was used to register the land on the portal, Mr. Surendran asked.

The UDF always stands with fundamentalists in the State. Mr. Satheesan is incapable of taking any decision on this issue for fear of the Muslim League and Jamaat-e-Islami. The people of Kerala are interested in knowing Mr. Satheesan’s stance on the Waqf Board’s new decision. If Mr. Satheesan is sincere, he should dissolve the Waqf Board, which was not constituted under the new law,” Mr. Surendran said.