New Delhi: In a significant political development, Delhi Minister Raj Kumar Anand resigned from his post on Wednesday, citing rampant corruption within the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as the reason for his decision.
“I am heartbroken. AAP is trapped in the swamp of corruption. I can’t work with corrupt people,” Anand stated in his resignation letter sent to AAP General Secretary Sandeep Pathak.
Anand’s resignation comes in the wake of a recent raid by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and marks the first resignation of any AAP MLA following the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
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Expressing his discontent with the party’s handling of corruption issues, Anand, who has now turned rebel, stated that he was unhappy with the party’s direction.
Shortly after his resignation, Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva commented that Anand’s resignation signaled the beginning of the end of a story of deceiving and misleading Delhiites that Arvind Kejriwal started in 2011 with the Anna Andolan.
“Anand, who was with Kejriwal since the Anna Andolan, has answered the call of his conscience and resigned from the government today,” Sachdeva said.
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In response to the resignation, AAP held an immediate press conference, asserting that it was the BJP that was the most corrupt party. “BJP is behind this. They are trying to break our party, but we will not yield to them. Many of our leaders (AAP MLAs) are now intimidated by the BJP. Ask BJP President Nadda why they welcomed corrupt leaders into the BJP,” Singh said at the press conference.
Singh also accused the Enforcement Directorate (ED), stating that the federal anti-money laundering agency was also attempting to break AAP. The resignation of Anand and the ensuing political reactions mark a significant moment in Delhi’s political landscape.