NEW DELHI : Delhi lawmaker Sandeep Kumar was today suspended by the Aam Aadmi Party from membership of the party, three days after he lost his job as minister over a sex scandal. After removing Mr Kumar from his post of Delhi’s minister for women and child welfare, Delhi chief minister and AAP boss Arvind Kejriwal had in a video message to workers accused Mr Kumar of betraying the “Aam Aadmi Party and our movement.”

“We will never ever compromise on our core values. We will prefer to die than tolerate wrongdoings,” Mr Kejriwal said.Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said, what Kumar has done is completely wrong. He said, the matter has been handed over to the Disciplinary Committee and the party will abide by whatever the Committee decides.

Sandeep Kumar, 36, has said he is being targeted because he is a Dalit. He has denied that the man seen on a nine-minute video and some photographs with two women is him and has demanded an investigation. The video and photographs were circulated on a CD earlier this week. The Aam Aadmi Party claims that Mr Kejriwal sacked Mr Kumar “within 30 minutes” of receiving a copy of the CD.

It has strongly rejected the allegation made by political rivals that the Delhi chief minister knew about the video but acted only after it became public. Sandeep Kumar is the third minister to be sacked by Mr Kejriwal since his government took office in February last year.

Jitender Tomar was asked to resign as Law Minister after he was accused of forging his college degree. In October, Asim Ahmed Khan was removed as Minister for Food and Environment following allegations of taking a bribe from a builder. There are six ministers in the Delhi government who hold multiple portfolios. AAP is now looking for a Dalit lawmaker to replace Sandeep Kumar.

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