Weeks after quitting Congress, Ajoy Kumar joins AAP

After a bitter parting with the Congress, its former Jharkhand unit chief Ajoy Kumar on Thursday joined the Aam Aadmi Party.

Mangaluru-born Kumar, who quit the Indian Police Service to join politics after a brief stint in the corporate sector, is expected to play an important role in the AAP's campaign for the upcoming Delhi assembly elections and also in Jharkhand, where elections are expected later this year.

AAP sought to project the tough cop credentials of Kumar, who played a key role in weeding out crime in the city as the Superindent of Police of Jamshedpur.

“I feel thrilled to have someone like Ajoy Kumar joining our efforts of alternative Politics. Politics of Governance, politics of delivery, politics of development. Welcome to the real-life star of movie 'Gangaa Jal',” Saurabh Bharadwaj, AAP spokesperson said.

Kumar had a meeting with Delhi Chief Minister and AAP Convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday morning, before formally joining the party in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

“He has served the country in two roles - as an IPS officer and a parliamentarian. We have known each other since the days of 'andolan' (movement) and now he will work in all states with us,” Sisodia said.

Kumar said he had to quit the Congress because of the political situation in Jharkhand, where he headed the grand old party's state unit.

After the Lok Sabha debacle, differences in the state unit, particularly between Kumar and former Union Minister Subodhkant Sahay spilled on to the streets, with rival factions coming to blows.

Last month, Kumar had shot off his resignation letter to the then Congress president Rahul Gandhi, hitting out at his colleagues in the Jharkhand Congress.

“Their only intention is to grab power, sell tickets or collect money in the name of elections. As a proud Indian and one of the youngest winners of the Police gallantry award and having wiped the mafia in Jamshedpur. I can confidently say that the worst criminals look better than some of my colleagues,” Kumar had said in the letter.

A doctor by training, Mangaluru-born Kumar joined the IPS in 1986 and shot to fame as the Superintendent of Police of Jamshedpur, then in Bihar. After a 10-year stint in IPS, Kumar quit the service to join the Tata Group before taking the political plunge in 2011.