Patel Nagar MLA Raaj Kumar Anand likely to be new minister in Kejriwal Cabinet

Raaj Kumar Anand is likely to replace Rajendra Pal Gautam, who resigned as social welfare minister after his presence at a religious conversion event sparked a political controversy

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from Patel Nagar constituency Raaj Kumar Anand is likely to be inducted into the Delhi Cabinet led by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to replace Rajendra Pal Gautam, who resigned as social welfare minister after his presence at a religious conversion event sparked a political controversy earlier this month, a party functionary said on Wednesday.

Raaj Kumar Anand joined the anti-corruption movement in 2011 that set the ground for the formation of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). (Twitter/Raaj Kumar Anand)

Gautam resigned from his post on October 9 following the controversy over the event, where 10,000 people denounced Hinduism and accepted Buddhism, saying that he did not want his party and the chief minister to court trouble because of him. The Union home ministry in a notification issued on Tuesday said President Droupadi Murmu has accepted Gautam’s resignation.

Like Gautam, Anand too comes from the Dalit community. He is a member of the AAP’s national council. A post graduate in political science, he and his wife joined the anti-corruption movement in 2011 that set the ground for the formation of the AAP, and in the 2013 assembly election his wife Veena Anand won as MLA from Patel Nagar.

She was, however, not fielded by the AAP in the 2015 election and the assembly constituency was represented by another AAP leader Hazari Lal Chauhan. Anand won in 2020 assembly election.

An AAP functionary, who did not want to be named, said that Kejriwal is likely to recommend the name of Patel Nagar MLA as the new minister in his cabinet.

It is not yet clear which all portfolios will be assigned to the new minister. Gautam was the minister in charge of social welfare, SC/ST, cooperative and gurudwara elections.