Fired, Sandeep Kumar stays away from home

Since the AAP received that CD, Kumar has not been home.

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Kumar’s bungalow on Raj Niwas Marg wore a deserted look Wednesday night. (Express Photo by Aneesha Mathur)

Bungalow number 4 on Raj Niwas Marg wore a deserted look Wednesday night. A few lights are on and no vehicles are inside. This was after Sandeep Kumar — AAP leader and Sultanpur Majra MLA — was removed as cabinet minister hours earlier after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal received a CD which allegedly contained “objectionable” videos and pictures of the minister.

Since the AAP received that CD, Kumar has not been home. A guard outside said the minister had not been home for hours. Till Wednesday, Kumar was Delhi’s Minister for Women and Child Development, Social Welfare and SC & ST departments.

Kumar was sacked after an emergency meeting of the AAP political affairs committee Wednesday. AAP leader Kumar Vishwas said the party had always adopted a zero tolerance policy. “The AAP always implements ideals of purity and cleanliness in public life. It is very sad that such allegations have surfaced. Even earlier, whether it was a matter of corruption or crime, the firmness AAP has shown is commendable,” he said.

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Sources in the AAP also said it was a clear message to the party. “This is to give out a message that we will not shield anyone and apply the highest standards of scrutiny to everyone. It might be said that in the case of Jitendra Tomar and Sandeep Kumar, we were forced to take action because the allegations were already in the public domain. But in the case of Asim Ahmed Khan, only we had the evidence and could have kept it all under wraps,” said a Political Action Committee (PAC) member.

Former party colleague Yogendra Yadav alleged there was a similar complaint about another leader. “There are serious allegations of exploitation of women by an AAP leader in Punjab,” he said.

Senior party leaders dismissed apprehensions that such repeated dismissals of ministers led to the party’s image being tarnished. “Far from it. People can see unlike other parties that keep sticking it out for their tainted leaders, we do not think twice about sacking them. It took the PAC just 30 minutes to decide that there was no way Sandeep Kumar could continue as a minister,” said the PAC member.

Though the party did not bring up who will fill Kumar’s portfolio, it is likely to be taken up by another Dalit face. While MLA Rakhi Birla was recently inducted as deputy Speaker in the legislative assembly, there are 10 others the party could consider.

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AAP MLAs who successfully contested reserved seats in Delhi include, Girish Soni (Madipur), Ajay Dutt (Ambedkar Nagar), Ved Parkash (Bawana), Rakhi Birla (Mongolpuri), Raju Dhigan (Trilokpuri), Rajendra Pal Gautam (Seemapuri), Nand Nagri, Vishesh Ravi (Karol Bagh).

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