Delhi Minister Raaj Kumar Anand resigns from post, quits AAP months after ED raids

Delhi MLA Raaj Kumar Anand resigned from the Arvind Kejriwal-led Cabinet and subsequently exited the party on Wednesday afternoon. The former Minister — who had held several portfolios including Social Welfare — cited the corruption charges levelled against the party and also flagged the lack of Dalits among the upper echelons of the Aam Aadmi Party. Anand is one of the many AAP leaders who have faced Enforcement Directorate raids in recent months.

"This party doesn't respect Dalit MLAs, councillors and ministers. In such circumstances, all Dalits feel cheated. We live in an inclusive society, but it is not wrong to talk about proportion. It is difficult for me to remain in the party with all these things, hence I am resigning from the post," Anand said during a press conference on Wednesday.

He also noted that the AAP was born to fight corruption but now found itself mired in controversy. The Patel Nagar MLA said that he was unable to work in the AAP-led Delhi government and did not want his name “to be associated with this corruption".

Anand also took a swipe at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal (currently lodged in Tihar jail) over his arrest.

“From the Jantar Mantar, Arvind Kejriwal had said that the country will change once politics changes. The politics hasn't changed but the politician has changed," he opined.

Raaj Kumar Anand's residence and other premises linked to the politician were raided by the ED in November last year. The search teams were accompanied by a CRPF team as they visited several locations in the national capital. The raids took place mere hours before Kejriwal was slated to appear before the probe agency for questioning in a money laundering case linked to the Delhi liquor policy case. The Delhi CM