Ready to put case before panel, says Amanatullah Khan

New Delhi: Suspended AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan, on Wednesday, went quiet on senior party leader Kumar Vishwas, whom he accused of hobnobbing with the RSS and the BJP.

He said he was upset with his suspension and laughed off a remark that he has locked horns with a “more powerful person in the party”. “Kumar is a PAC (political affairs committee) member like me,” he told this newspaper. Later in the day, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia tried to pacify the beleaguered leader and met him at his Jamia Nagar residence.

“The party has been set up by its volunteers,” Mr Khan said, reacting to attempts by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy to placate Mr Vishwas, who wanted a disciplinary action against him.

The Okhla MLA said he has no plans of quitting the party. “I’m a loyal party worker,” he told reporters after meeting Mr Sisodia. He said he is willing to put his case before the three-member disciplinary committee constituted by the PAC to probe statements he made against one of the senior-most AAP functionaries.

Mr Vishwas had accused Mr Khan of being a “mask” and acting at the behest of a “coterie” surrounding the AAP chief, Mr Kejriwal.

After Mr Vishwas differed with Mr Kejriwal on the issue of electronic voting machines (EVMs) and said machines alone can’t be held responsible for the AAP’s electoral defeats, Mr Khan accused him of plotting a conspiracy to take control of the party.