The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from East Patel Nagar constituency 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 earlier this month.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said he has recommended to the Lieutenant-Governor the name of Anand as Gautam’s replacement.
Just like Gautam, Anand, who is a first-time MLA, is also from the Jatav community. He is a member of the AAP’s national council. A postgraduate 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.
In the 2015 Assembly polls, she was replaced by AAP leader Hazari Lal Chauhan for the seat. In 2020, Raaj Kumar Anand contested the Assembly polls from the seat and won it.
Gautam, who was Minister for the departments of Social Welfare, SC and ST, Registrar of Co-operative Societies and gurudwara elections, had resigned on October 9.
A major row erupted over his presence at an event where Hindu deities were allegedly renounced by hundreds of people who had embraced Buddhism. President Droupadi Murmu had accepted Gautam's resignation.