Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Raaj Kumar Anand, who was Arvind Kejriwal Cabinet's social welfare minister, resigned from his post on Wednesday. He is an MLA from the Patel Nagar Vidhan Sabha constituency. He also resigned from the primary membership of the Aam Aadmi Party. This is notably the first resignation from the Arvind Kejriwal government after the Delhi CM was arrested on March 21.
An MLA from the Patel Nagar Vidhan Sabha constituency, he won the 2020 Delhi Assembly Election from the Patel Nagar seat by defeating Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Pravesh Ratn with a margin of over 30,000 votes. He became the Delhi Cabinet minister in November, 2022. He was also having additional charge of Labour and Employment, SC and ST, Land and Building, Cooperative and Gurudwara Elections departments.
Soon after announcing his resignation, Anand said, "AAP is neck-deep in corruption. And I can't talk work with corrupt people. The connection with Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal happened because he had said 'Rajniti badlegi toh desh badlega'...Today politics hasn't changed but the politician has. I have sent my resignation to the chief minister's office."
"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 added.
The development comes hours after Arvind Kejriwal in his latest message from the jail had asked his party leaders to ensure that the public does not face any problem and observe 'Tanashahi Hatao, Samvidhan Bachao' Diwas on the birth anniversary of BR Ambedkar.
Meanwhile, Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court order rejecting his plea challenging arrest in the alleged liquor policy scam case. However, the Supreme Court said that there won't be any special bench to hear Kejriwal's plea before Monday. A while ago, Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud asked the Delhi Chief Minister to mail him the plea documents.
