Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal’s woes appear to be piling on. A day after he failed to get relief from the Delhi High Court in the alleged liquor policy scam case in which had been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate and subsequently sent to judicial custody, a dalit minister in his cabinet, who is himself under investigation by the ED in an unrelated money laundering case, on Wednesday announced his resignation from the primary membership of the party.
Addressing a press conference at his residence after tendering his resignation to party general secretary Sandeep Pathak, the MLA representing Patel Nagar constituency, said, “I had entered politics when Kejriwal had said that if its politics changes, the country will change. But today, I say with much regret, that politics did not change but political leaders did. The AAP was born out of a movement against corruption, but today this party is mired in the same quicksand of graft.”
On being confronted on the timing of his resignation, he maintained that he is not contemplating joining any other party.
Raaj Kumar Anand, who held the portfolio of social welfare besides many others, further accused the party of not giving due respect to Dalits and backward communities. “They (AAP) put Babasaheb (Ambedkar)’s picture in each press conference, each government office but forget when it comes to following his ideals. Reservation is mandated by law but when it comes to actual representation, not even a single one of our 13 MPs (all Rajya Sabha members) is a Dalit or someone from the backward communities,” Anand said.
A post-graduate in political science, Raaj Kumar Anand was a member of the AAP’s national council and has been with Kejriwal’s movement since 2011.
According to Indian Express, Anand is under investigation by the Enforcement Directorate and DRI in an alleged money laundering case relating to unaccounted business investments in hawala payments sent to China in 2023.
In November last year, after conducting searches at 13 places, including Anand’s premises, the ED alleged that evidence relating to unaccounted business investments and hawala payments sent to China in 2023 was recovered from some of his key employees. This, according to the agency, was apart from Rs 74 lakh in cash along with various incriminating documents/digital records that were also recovered.
Reacting swiftly to Anand’s resignation, AAP leaders Sanjay Singh and Saurabh Bharadwaj said this is another proof of how the BJP is misusing the agencies in an effort to break-up the party and topple its state governments in Delhi and Punjab.
