Kejriwal minister Sandeep Kumar fired over sex tape
NEW DELHI: Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal sacked his women and child welfare minister Sandeep Kumar on Wednesday over an alleged sex tape showing the 35-year-old in a compromising position with two women.
Reports said the nine-minute-long CD contains photographs of Kumar, the legislator for Sultanpur Majra, with one woman and a video with another.
Kejriwal announced the sacking on Twitter after he called a top-level meeting of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party.
“Recd “objectionable” CD of minister Sandeep Kr. AAP stands for propriety in public life. That can’t be compromised. Removing him from Cabinet wid immediate effect (sic.),” Kejriwal tweeted at 8.28pm.
Kumar is the third minister to be removed from the Kejriwal cabinet in the past 19 months. Law minister Jitender Singh Tomar was removed after he was arrested for a fake college degree, while food and supplies minister Asim Ahmed Khan was axed over complaints that he demanded a bribe from a builder.
Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said the AAP was running a principled government and will not tolerate any transgression, be it on corruption, crime or character.
“We received the CD today and sacked the minister within 30 minutes. This is the difference between the AAP and other parties,” he told reporters outside Kejriwal’s home.
Sisodia warned party legislators that anyone, irrespective of designation or profile, will face a similar fate if they fail to behave with utmost propriety.
“Hamare 67 MLAs hain, jo aisa kuchh karega wo tolerate nahin kiya jayega, chahe wo Arvind Kejriwal ho ya Manish Sisodia (We have 67 MLAs. If anyone is found faltering on such grounds, it will not be tolerated whether the person is Arvind Kejriwal or Manish Sisodia,” the deputy chief minister said.