New Delhi
Ajoy Kumar, former chief of Jharkhand unit of the Congress, has joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi, senior AAP leader and Delhi’s deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said in a press conference at the party’s office in central Delhi on Thursday.
“I am joining AAP with the sole aim of contributing in taking the movement of providing alternative politics forward. AAP government has done great work in the fields of education, health, power and water. It needs to be taken in other parts of the country,” said Kumar.
The joining of Kumar, who was replaced as the Jharkhand Congress unit chief by former union minister and tribal leader Rameshwar Oraon on August 26, came at a time when the AAP has started gearing up for assembly elections in the national capital, likely to be held by early next year.
A former Lok Sabha MP from Jamshedpur, Kumar was appointed the Jharkhand Congress chief in November 2017.
“I congratulate my friend Dr Ajoy Kumar on joining the Aam Aadmi Party. We need people like him to change the politics of India and make it meaningful for the common man,” said Sisodia.
In his August 9 resignation letter, 57-year-old Kumar, a 1986 batch IPS officer and once considered close to former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, had levelled serious allegations against his senior party colleagues, including Oraon, accusing them of placing “personal interests” above the party and “indulging in corrupt” practices.
{{/usCountry}}In his August 9 resignation letter, 57-year-old Kumar, a 1986 batch IPS officer and once considered close to former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, had levelled serious allegations against his senior party colleagues, including Oraon, accusing them of placing “personal interests” above the party and “indulging in corrupt” practices.
{{/usCountry}}Kumar started his political journey in 2011 when he contested on ticket of Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik (JVM-P), led by Babulal Marandi, and won the Jamshedpur Lok Sabha by-election. However, he lost the seat in 2014 general election. He subsequently joined the Congress in August 2014 and was appointed Congress national spokesperson.