Raaj Kumar Anand resigns from Delhi cabinet, quits AAP; 'he was scared', says Saurabh Bharadwaj

NEW DELHI: Delhi minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Raaj Kumar Anand on Wednesday resigned from his cabinet and party post, stating that he does not want to be associated with a party “involved in corruption”.

Reacting to the sudden resignation, AAP said this was yet more evidence of how the BJP was using central probe agencies to break up the party.

“Anand was earlier called corrupt by the BJP but now he will join the same party … BJP is using ED, CBI to break our ministers and MLAs, it’s a test of AAP ministers and MLAs,” AAP MP Sanjay Singh said at a press conference.

“I want to tell you that this is Raaj Kuman Anand, on whom ED conducted a raid for 23 hours in November last year. The BJP was alleging him of being corrupt. Whether it is JP Nadda, Anurag Thakur or Piyush Goyal, everyone was accusing him of being corrupt. Now, we just have to wait and watch, whether the BJP, that had accused him (Raaj Kuman Anand) of being corrupt, will welcome him in their party or not?” he added.

Anand was scared: AAP’s Bharadwaj

AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj said the resignation further proved that the Centre was trying to break up the party as well as the AAP governments in Delhi and Punjab.

“Time and again we said that the intention behind arresting Arvind Kejriwal was to break the party and governments of Delhi and Punjab. This was said time and again by Kejriwal,” he said.

“Many of our colleagues will feel that we hate Raaj Kumar (Anand) and will call him dishonest and cheater. We will not say any such thing. I believe that he is a family man who is afraid of the threats of ED and Tihar Jail, not everyone is Sanjay Singh. I believe that he was scared, many times he told his party colleagues that ‘as soon as I become a little active, I get a phone call,” said Bharadwaj.

“Everyone knows that there was an ED raid at his residence. He was under pressure and got scared. We have no complaints from him … He was given a script and he had no other option but to read it,” he added.

‘AAP stuck in swamp of corruption’

On his part, Anand, who is an MLA from the Patel Nagar constituency, said he quit the party over concerns of corruption in AAP. “Aam Aadmi Party was born to fight corruption but today the party is stuck in a swamp of corruption. It has become difficult for me to work on the minister’s post. I resigned from the post of minister and from the party as I can’t connect name with this corruption,” he said.

“From Jantar Mantar, Arvind Kejriwal had said that the country will change once the politics changes. The politics hasn’t changed but the politician has changed,” said Anand, who was holding various portfolios including social welfare.

In response to a query on the timing of his resignation, Anand said: “It is not about the timing. Till yesterday, we were under the impression that we are being framed, but after the high court verdict, it seems that there is something wrong at our end.”

He also alleged that Dalit MLAs, minister or councillors of the AAP were not given due respect in the party.

“I became a minister to pay back the society. I don’t want to be part of a party that takes a backseat when Dalit representation is talked about,” he said.

“We have 13 Rajya Sabha MPs, but none of them are Dalit, women or from backward classes. There is no respect for Dalit MLAs, councillors and ministers in this party. In such a situation, all Dalits feel cheated. Due to all this, it is difficult for me to remain in this party,” he said, adding that he is not joining any other party.

(With inputs from agencies)

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