“Every minister and MLA is facing a test,” AAP has said.
New Delhi:
Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party has said that its minister Raaj Kumar Anand, who stepped down today and quit the party, accusing it of corruption, was under pressure from investigative agencies. He was under the scanner of the central agencies and his house was searched last year in connection with an alleged corruption case, the party pointed out.
Mr Anand resigned from the cabinet and the quit the party earlier today. “I joined AAP after seeing its strong message on fighting corruption. Today, the party has found itself in the middle of corrupt practices. That’s why I have decided to quit,” said the leader, who handled the social welfare, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes portfolio.
AAP hit rewind. Senior AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj said the Enforcement Directorate raided Raaj Kumar Anand’s house for 23 hours in November. “The entire BJP was then saying that Raaj Kumar Anand is corrupt,” he said.
Reiterating that the BJP’s intention behind the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal is to break AAP, Mr Bhardwaj said, “Every minister and MLA of Aam Aadmi Party is facing a test”.
“We know some people will retreat in this fight, some will have weak morale, some will break but there are a large number of people who will face these circumstances,” Mr Bhardwaj added.
Mr Anand’s house was searched by the Enforcement Directorate in a customs-linked money laundering case in November 2023. The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, in a complaint to a local court, had alleged false declarations in imports for customs evasions of over Rs 7 crore. The ED then filed a complaint against Mr Anand.
Senior AAP leader and Delhi minister Atishi had earlier alleged that the BJP was in touch with several leaders of her party and was trying to poach them using the carrot and stick method. She and a few others were approached by the party, Atishi had claimed.
The BJP has filed a defamation suit against her over the claim and followed it up with a complaint with the Election Commission, which has sent a notice.
Mr Anand is the first leader of AAP to quit with a public allegation of corruption since the central agencies started a series of arrests.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his former deputy Manish Sisodia and senior leader Satyender Jain are in jail. Only one leader, Sanjay Singh, was released on bail last week.
