New Delhi: Putting up a brave face, the AAP on Sunday said it will not accept the resignation of its MLA Amanatullah Khan as the sexual harassment charges against him are his “family matter”, on a day its legislator Somath Bharti was booked for damaging AIIMS’ property.
Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in a press conference defended Okhla legislator Khan and rejected his resignation.
“We looked into the Amantullah Khan’s matter and found it’s his family’s internal issue which is being given a political colour. The dispute is within his brother-in-law’s family,” he said.
AAP ‘scandal list’ now has 14 names.He said Khan’s brother-in-law had divorced his wife and “Amantullah is not even in touch with them”.
Sisodia, who is the prime mover in the Delhi government in the absence of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, sought to blunt the BJP’s attacks raking up the alleged snooping of a woman in Gujarat, and drew parallels of it with the Monica Lewinsky case of US.
He dared the media to dig deeper into the “snoopgate” scandal and attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah in this regard.
Khan had on Saturday resigned all party posts and also as Delhi Waqf Board chief, claiming he was being targeted for unearthing corruption in Board.
The deputy chief minister seconded Khan’s contentions.
“He had given resignation in pain. His family issue was being dragged. He sent out a very emotional letter to us. But our probe has not found anything.
“I spoke to the Chief Minister (Arvind Kejriwal) and also other leaders and we have decided to not accept his resignation,” Sisodia said.
Khan’s statement was recorded under Section 164 CrPC in the case registered against him in southeast Delhi’s Jamia Nagar Police station.
The complainant has also accused her husband of demanding dowry and “pressurising” her to get intimate with the Khan.
Meanwhile, Somnath Bharti landed in fresh trouble as the chief security officer of AIIMS gave a written complaint that the MLA “provoked the mob to damage the fence of the hospital with JCB at Gautam Nagar Nallah road in order to give access to unauthorised persons inside AIIMS property and also misbehaved with security personnel” on September 9.
