A day after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal sacked him from his Cabinet on allegations of corruption, Aam Aadmi Party legislator Asim Ahmed Khan took to national television to claim that he was but a mere “scapegoat” sacrificed at the altar of his party's “internal politics”.
Instead of answering queries related to his alleged involvement in a dubious land deal which triggered his expulsion as Minister for Food and Civil Supplies, Mr. Khan on Saturday chose to question the unceremonious manner of his removal which he termed “surprising” and “scripted”.
The 38-year-old MLA, who is alleged to have been caught on tape cutting a Rs.6-lakh deal with a local builder for continuing construction of a building in Matia Mahal, has now blamed AAP co-convenor for Uttar Pradesh Shakil Malik for framing him. He also introduced one Javed to the media as the owner of the said property.
He said he was at the Delhi Secretariat on Friday. “I was made to sit in a room, with instructions to switch off my phones and not to talk to anyone, for more than three hours during which a press conference announcing my removal from the Cabinet and my replacement were made from the same building,” Mr. Khan said.
“Audio clips featuring me and the voice of another man were made public...Whose is the other voice? It is Shakeel Malik, AAP’s co-convenor for Uttar Pradesh and director of the Delhi Minority Finance Corporation...While I was identified, it was decided not to name the other person. I was even denied a copy of the audio clips on the basis of which I was sacked,” he added.
Promising a “larger expose” at a subsequent press conference, Mr. Khan claimed his life was in danger even as he questioned both the choice of his successor – Ballimaran MLA Imran Husain – and the involvement of at least four senior AAP leaders in what he subtly referred to as his detention at the Secretariat.
The Hindu has learnt that Mr. Khan was in the company of Ashutosh, Pankaj Gupta, Dilip Pandey and Ashish Khetan in a room adjacent to Mr. Kejriwal’s chamber at Delhi Secretariat throughout the duration.
A senior AAP spokesperson said Mr. Khan “has the right to defend himself” and the matter had already been referred both to the party’s internal Lokpal and the CBI.
“I swear upon God that I am not in the wrong...I have been framed in order to be replaced by someone who already has several criminal cases to his name,” Mr. Khan said in a veiled reference to Mr. Husain who will be sworn-in as Minister early next week.
