The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Who is Raaj Kumar Anand — An old Kejriwal aide, faced ED searches last year
DELHI CABINET Minister Raaj Kumar Anand whose resignation from the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) primary membership on Wednesday stumped his colleagues has been an associate of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal since the days of the “India Against Corruption” movement.
“I was feeling suffocated for some time … till yesterday, it felt as if we (the AAP) were being falsely implicated but the (Delhi) High Court’s decision yesterday made me realise that there was certainly something wrong somewhere … I entered politics when Arvind Kejriwal ji said that if its politics changes, the country will change. But today, I say with much regret, that politics did not change but political leaders did,” Anand, who came under the Enforcement Directorate (ED) scanner last November, said after resigning from the party alleging corruption.
From working as a child labourer in a padlock factory Anand went on to become one of the top rexine leather manufacturers in north India.
According to party insiders, he was initially not as interested in politics as his wife Veena who contested on an AAP ticket in the 2013 Delhi Assembly polls from Patel Nagar and won.
Two years later, when Veena was denied a ticket, a rift occurred between Anand and the party. She contested from Patel Nagar on a Swaraj Party ticket but lost to the AAP.
"Anand is a businessman and has never been a ground worker or had keen interests like other politicians,” said a senior AAP leader. “But his wife was more interested and associated with the party than him but he always wanted to become MLA … when the rift mended and he came in contact with CM Arvind Kejriwal, he was given a ticket from Patel Nagar and won (in 2020).”
Apart from the rexine business, Anand has also had business interests in the real estate sector. In the 2020 poll affidavit, he declared assets worth Rs 78.9 crore. After Rajendra Pal Gautam resigned from the Delhi government in October 2022 amid a political storm over his involvement in a religious conversion event, Anand replaced him.
Last November, the ED conducted searches at places, including Anand’s premises, alleging that evidence of unaccounted business investments and hawala payments sent to China in 2023 were recovered from some of his key employees. About Anand’s resignation, an AAP insider said, “He got scared very much and was in trouble after the ED'S raid at his house … He even discussed with some of the party leaders about this and how he was getting calls … He even lost 7-8 kgs and was sick for some time.”