Raaj Kumar Anand announced his resignation from AAP on Monday.
If I had continued to believe in this politics of lies, I would still be where I was,” Raaj Kumar Anand told news agency ANI.
Last year, the ED raided 12 premises linked to Raaj Kumar Anand, including his home, as part of a money laundering probe into the excise policy case.
Meanwhile, Raaj Kumar Anand also hit out at Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj over his statement saying “Dalits and poor are weak”.
He added, “They (AAP) use pictures of Ambedkar in offices but when it comes to implementation and representation of Dalits, AAP steps back.
Former Delhi minister Raaj Kumar Anand on Thursday claimed that he did not quit the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) “fearing” the Enforcement Directorate and said the raids at his residence were only to find the money trail of the alleged liquor scam. Raaj Kumar Anand announced his resignation from AAP on Monday. (Vipin Kumar/HT Photo)
“I did not leave the ministerial position and the AAP fearing the ED…I also know it is not easy to become a minister… The ED had said in its statement that not even a rupee of corruption has taken place in this case... If I had continued to believe in this politics of lies, I would still be where I was,” Raaj Kumar Anand told news agency ANI.
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Last year, the ED raided 12 premises linked to Raaj Kumar Anand, including his home, as part of a money laundering probe into the excise policy case. The raids were conducted based on a chargesheet filed by the Directorate of Revenue and Intelligence over Customs evasion of more than ₹seven crore.
Meanwhile, Raaj Kumar Anand also hit out at Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj over his statement saying “Dalits and poor are weak”. “Are all Dalits weak and poor?...I will not tolerate the insult of Dalits,” the former minister said.
Raaj Kumar Anand is a Dalit leader and a legislator from Patel Nagar.
Anand, who was the social welfare minister of Delhi, resigned from the cabinet of Arvind Kejriwal and the AAP on Wednesday saying that a “party that was formed to fundamentally fight corruption is now embroiled in corruption itself”.
“I am very pained today. I came into politics when Kejriwal said that politics will change and the country will change... AAP was born against corruption, but today this party is embroiled in corruption,” Anand said while addressing the media.
He added, “They (AAP) use pictures of Ambedkar in offices but when it comes to implementation and representation of Dalits, AAP steps back. None of the 13 AAP’s Rajya Sabha MPs is Dalit. There is no respect for Dalit leaders in AAP. In the top leadership of the party, there is no Dalit and no Dalit leader is given big political responsibility which makes Dalit leaders of AAP feel cheated.”
AAP leaders blame BJP for Anand's resignation
Several AAP leaders said that Anand's resignation was a part of the BJP's “attempt to crush” the party following Kejriwal's arrest. AAP leader Sanjay Singh, who is currently out on bail in the liquor policy case, alleged that the former minister was pressured to resign.
“Since the beginning, we have said that the real motive of Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest is to break AAP and crush AAP. The purpose of ED raids is not to probe corruption but to break AAP... BJP was saying Anand is corrupt. Soon you may see BJP leaders welcoming him,” he said.
