Raaj Kumar Anand.
Credit: X/@RaajKumarAnand1
New Delhi: Former AAP leader and BSP's candidate from New Delhi Lok Sabha seat, Raaj Kumar Anand, on Wednesday demanded action on the alleged assault of Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal, and said he would hold a protest if the party fails to act quickly.
Addressing a press conference here, Anand said if the AAP fails to take action within 24 hours against Maliwal's allegation then members of the BSP will stage a demonstration outside the chief ministers' residence.
After quitting the Aam Aadmi Party in April, Anand joined the BSP earlier this month. He is currently an MLA from Patel Nagar and his resignation as a minister in the Delhi government is yet to be approved by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Anand resigned from the Delhi Cabinet and quit the AAP citing 'corruption' in the party, and alleging that Dalits did not have adequate representation in the party.
Accusing the AAP of being "anti-Dalit" and "anti-women", Anand on Wednesday claimed that an 'influential individual' was behind Maliwal's "change of mind" who he said hadn't lodged any complaint even after visiting the police station on Monday, the day the alleged incident happened.
Maliwal has so far not filed an official police complaint in the matter and has maintained complete silence over the incident since she made the allegation.
"I regret the kind of party AAP has turned out to be. I have been with them since AAP was formed", said Anand who will go up against AAP's Somnath Bharti and BJP's Bansuri Swaraj for the New Delhi constituency in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls.
He said the party that came into the mainstream after participating in protests against the Nirbhaya rape case is "behaving badly" with their own Rajya Sabha MP and "beat her inside the CM house".
"This is a very embarrassing incident", he said.
"I demand that within 24 hours action should be taken on this otherwise BSP members will stage a strike outside the CM's residence", the BSP leader added.
Anand further claimed, "Such a mystery that she (Maliwal) went to the police station to file the complaint but received a call from someone and returned. It remains a mystery as to who made her silent and changed her mind. We should look into who is this influential person who is putting pressure on her". Former Delhi Commission of Women Maliwal on Monday went to the Civil Lines Police Station and alleged that a member of the Delhi chief minister's personal staff 'assaulted' her at the CM's official residence.
A day later on Tuesday, AAP said the chief minister's personal assistant Bibhav Kumar "misbehaved" with Maliwal and said it would take strict action in the matter.