Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said sacked minister Sandeep Kumar had “betrayed” the core values on which AAP will never compromise and hit out at rival parties for their “indifference” in taking action in cases of wrongdoings and corruption.
In a video message, Kejriwal asserted that he will prefer to die than stray from AAP’s principles, adding the same rule will apply to himself and all other senior leaders. “Sandeep Kumar betrayed the party; he betrayed the AAP movement and the trust people across the country have reposed on AAP. We will never ever compromise on our core values. We will prefer to die than tolerate wrongdoings,” he said.
In a sudden move, Kumar, who held the Women and Child Welfare and Social Welfare portfolios, was sacked from the council of ministers yesterday by Kejriwal after he received a nine-minute-long CD in which Kumar was purportedly shown in a compromising position with a woman.
“We never cover up when we get evidence of any wrongdoing. AAP takes action as soon as we get any evidence. That differentiates us from other political parties. It is sad that such people (Kumar) were with AAP,” Kejriwal said.
“AAP is the biggest hope for the nation. Other parties defend themselves. For example many cases of corruption have been filed against Shivraj Singh Chouhan under the Vyapam scam, and numerous murders took place, but the BJP is trying its level best to save him, they will not sack him. Second is Vasundhara Raje, she has been accused in the mining scam and Lalitgate but the BJP is busy putting a veil on her misdeeds,” said Kejriwal.
He also attacked Congress and wondered “why the party shied away from taking action against its Punjab Chief Amarinder Singh when it was found that his family has Swiss bank accounts.”
The decision to remove 36-year-old Kumar was taken at a high-level meeting attended by top AAP leaders last night. Kumar alleged that he was being targeted under a “conspiracy” as he was a dalit and demanded a probe into the issue.
