Ashutosh’s opinion personal: Gopal Rai

Delhi Minister Gopal Rai today said AAP spokesperson Ashutosh’s comments on Mahatma Gandhi in the backdrop of the CD scandal involving sacked minister Sandeep Kumar, were his personal opinion and the party did not subscribe to them.

He said Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has taken strict action against its MLA Sandeep Kumar, who was sacked as women and child development minister after an “objectionable” CD purportedly showed him in a compromising position with a woman.

In a blog written for a private TV channel, Ashutosh claimed great leaders like Gandhi and Pandit Nehru had “lived with their desires beyond social boundaries,” while seeking to defend Kumar over the alleged CD scandal.

Defending Kumar, the journalist-turned-politician had said he did nothing wrong and action was taken against him solely for “perception management”. Ashutosh, who is AAP’S Gujarat election in-charge, also referred to the alleged affairs of Nehru and Gandhi in the said blog. “Whatever he (Ashutosh) has said on Gandhi and Nehru is his personal opinion and the party has made this amply clear. AAP has also made it clear that everybody is welcome to join the party but there will be zero tolerance for any wrongdoing,” Mr Rai, who was here to meet labourers and contract wage workers, said at a press conference.

“We have zero tolerance towards those found doing things that are socially unacceptable, unlike other parties that refuse to take action against their people despite public outrage,” the Delhi minister said while referring to BJP CMs Vasundhara Raje, Shivraj Singh Chauhan, and Congress’ Abhishek Manu Singhvi.

He said his party believed that “everything has to be said and done within socially-acceptable limit.” Rai, who handles portfolios like employment, labour and general administration, said Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal is scheduled to make a trip to Surat on October 16. The fledglin outfit is looking to make a mark in the 2017 Assembly elections in Gujarat as the people are “fed up with the BJP as reflected in large scale protests against the government and also because Congress does not come across as a formidable opposition,” he said. Mr Rai said his meetings with labourers revealed their condition in the BJP-ruled state was among the worst in the country.