AAP divided over minister’s sacking

There appears to be a split within the Aam Aadmi Party over the sacking of women and child development minister Sandeep Kumar. While chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday asserted that he has removed “rotten fish” from the cabinet by sacking Mr Kumar, senior party leader Ashutosh said there was nothing wrong if two adults were having consensual sex.

Coming out in support of the sacked minister, the AAP leader said in a blog post that the act was not coerced and was of a consensual nature, hence there was no “wrongdoing”. The AAP leader’s stand on the issue goes contrary to Mr Kejriwal’s who had said that he would prefer to die rather than compromising on the party’s core values. “This video encompasses pictures of a man and woman indulging in a sexual act. The video clearly establishes that both individuals knew each other and consented to have sex in a private space away from the public glare. The question then is that if two consenting adults are physically involved with each other, is it a crime ” he wrote.

Mr Ashutosh’s divergent view on the issue stands stark opposite to the video message put across by the AAP chief, who expressed disappointment with his minister’s conduct and went on the extent to say that his former cabinet minister had “betrayed the AAP movement”.

On the contrary, the woman, Mr Ashutosh wrote, “seen in the video is not coerced by any stretch of imagination. She has not even complained after the act to anyone. She has not gone public complaining of any wrongdoing. She has not registered any complaint either to the police or to the court. She has not even approached the family of the man.” He also pointed that Mr Kumar’s wife did not express any “divergent view on the conduct of her husband”.

Defending the former Delhi minister, Mr Ashutosh questioned, “It’s a case of two adults with their consent indulging in sex. Then why should this sex video be discussed at all Why should it be made public Why should it be linked to the character of the man and the party Why should it create headlines What wrong has the man done ” He went on to cite examples of former Prime Ministers, including Jawaharlal Nehru and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who had “lived with their desires beyond social boundaries”. He writes, “Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru’s reported affairs with many female colleagues were juicy gossip but it didn’t spoil his political career. His relationship with Edwina Mountbatten is widely discussed. The entire world knew about it. Their affections continued till Pt. Nehru’s last breath. Was it a sin ” “Atal Behari Vajpayee was not married in true RSS tradition but he said in parliament that he is a bachelor not celibate. He openly lived with his college friend and the society did not object even once,” he said.

Citing Mahatma Gandhi’s relationship with Sarla Chaudhary, he writes, “Gandhiji had confessed that Sarla was his spiritual wife. Kasturba was very disturbed.”