Delhi minister Raaj Kumar Anand resigns from cabinet, quits AAP

AAP said Anand’s resignation is a 'direct proof' of its claim that the BJP was attempting to 'break and finish' the Kejriwal-led party.

New Delhi: Delhi Minister Raaj Kumar Anand on Wednesday announced his resignation from Arvind Kejriwal cabinet and AAP after accusing the party of turning corrupt and ignoring Dalits, with the leadership saying that he is scared of going to jail after ED raids months ago.

AAP claimed Anand’s resignation as the direct proof of its claim that the BJP was attempting to “break and finish” the Kejriwal-led party while saying that Anand could not withstand the threat from the ruling regime. It claimed that Anand will soon join BJP, though the latter denied such plans.

The resignation came at a time the AAP is facing one of its worst crises with its supremo Kejriwal and top leaders Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain in jail during Lok Sabha elections. Opponents claim that more AAP leaders will come out of the party in Delhi and Punjab in the coming days.

In November last year, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had conducted searches for around 23 hours at his premises following allegations of false declarations with respect to the import of goods to evade customs duty of around Rs seven crore.

Announcing his resignation in a hurriedly-called press conference, the 57-year-old Dalit leader alleged that the AAP has become “corrupt” and that it does not give adequate representation to Dalits or respect its MLAs and corporators from the community.

An MLA from Patel Nagar constituency in Central Delhi, he said “AAP came with a promise to change politics. But what has happened is that the leader changed. The party was the outcome of an anti-corruption movement but it has fallen into corruption. I don't want my name to be linked to that.”

He alleged that there are no Dalits in its top leadership and when recruitments were made recently for highly-paid jobs, not a single Dalit was recruited. “I feel I am being trapped. Yesterday, the Delhi High Court has categorically said that there is wrongdoing. There is something wrong,” he said.

His resignation came on a day AAP announced to observe April 14, the birth anniversary of Dalit icon BR Ambedkar as 'Save Democracy, Remove Dictatorship Day'. AAP had also fielded a sitting MLA Kuldeep Kumar as its candidate from general seat East Delhi.

Responding to Anand’s resignation, senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh said, “we knew some people will leave as they cannot withstand pressure but we are sure that several will stay to fight back.”

The BJP is using the ED and the CBI to “break our ministers and MLAs” and it is “agnipariksha (trial by fire) of AAP ministers and MLA”, he added.

Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said they were not rushing to call him a “cheat” as they understood that he was “scared”.

“We won’t say anything against him. He has a family, relatives, he doesn’t want to be lodged in Tihar jail for years,” said Bharadwaj.

Bharadwaj said if a Dalit and a Delhi Minister can be threatened, what will happen to a common man. “The point is one should not be scared. Everyone cannot be Sanjay Singh (who was jailed for six months but now out on bail in an ED case),” he added.