The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has fielded Amanatullah Khan from the Okhla constituency in the forthcoming Delhi Assembly elections. Mr Khan, a two-time legislator, is a prominent Muslim face for the Arvind Kejriwal-led party.
Here are five facts about Amanatullah Khan:
1) Born in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, in 1974, Amanatullah Khan’s family later moved to Delhi. Before joining the AAP, Mr Khan contested the 2013 Delhi Assembly elections unsuccessfully with the Lok Janshakti Party.
2) Amanatullah Khan joined the AAP in 2015 and was elected from the Okhla seat. The 50-year-old defeated BJP’s Brahm Singh by a margin of 60,000 votes. Soon after his election, Mr Khan was embroiled in an internal party rift between Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Kumar Vishwas. In 2017, he accused Mr Vishwas of being a “BJP agent,” which led to his suspension from the party. The suspension was lifted months later.
3) Amanatullah Khan gained prominence during the 2019-20 protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Shaheen Bagh. Although AAP distanced itself from the protests, Mr Khan participated in demonstrations.
4) Last year, he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case involving the alleged purchase of Rs 36 crore worth of land in Okhla. A Delhi court rejected the charges and granted him bail, saying the necessary approval for prosecution wasn’t obtained.
5) His earlier legal troubles included a 2022 arrest by the Delhi Police during a demolition drive in Okhla. As of 2022, 18 FIRs had been filed against him, with 10 resulting in acquittals or discharges. In May 2024, he was charged by the Noida Police for allegedly assaulting a petrol pump employee.
