New Delhi: Vinod Kumar Binny, expelled by the Aam Aadmi Party yesterday, has ended the protest he began about five hours ago with the warning that he will be back if his demands are not met by the Delhi government in 10 days.
Mr Binny wound up his protest at Delhi's Jantar Mantar reportedly at the advice of Gandhian activist Anna Hazare and Delhi's Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung. "I give AAP and (Arvind) Kejriwal 10 more days to fulfill promises. I will come back with a bigger agitation if that is not done," he said.
He claimed that Anna Hazare had advised him that "sitting on hunger strike for four days won't work, he asked me to protest against AAP by spreading awareness."
The legislator has accused the
Arvind Kejriwal-led party of cheating the people of Delhi by not fulfilling in letter and spirit the promises it made during its election campaign. He also wants Law Minster Somnath Bharti to resign for the controversy over his midnight raid that targeted a group of African people in a south Delhi locality earlier this month.
('Dear Chief Minister, sack Somnath Bharti': Pressure on AAP to act against Law Minister)Mr Binny had also made these allegations on January 16, when he called a press conference and went public with his disagreement with his party, and had made a direct attack on party chief and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who he called a "liar" and a "dictator."
('Arvind Kejriwal is a dictator': rebel Vinod Binny's 5 big complaints against AAP)AAP said in a curt statement late last evening, "This disciplinary committee has decided to expel Vinod Kumar Binny and terminate his primary membership from the party, for publicly making false statements against the party and its leadership, thereby bringing disrepute to the party."
(Read statement)
This morning Mr Binny claimed that he had not been formally informed of his expulsion and had learnt about it from the media. He also claimed that several other AAP legislators were "upset with the party. They would have joined me today. Which is why I think I have been expelled."
More rebellion in the AAP ranks will mean trouble for Mr Kejriwal, who heads a minority government with 28 MLAs and the external support of eight Congress legislators and two others. The Chief Minister reacted to Mr Binny's comments by saying, "We do not have to do the politics of saving the government."