His indefinite fast ended as fast as it began, Vinod Kumar Binny’s opponents said.
The expelled Aam Aadmi Party MLA called off his indefinite hunger strike after just four hours on Monday, saying that Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung had asked him to give the Arvind Kejriwal Government more time to fulfil its promises. Among Mr. Binny’s demands are passage of the Jan Lokpal Bill, formation of Mahila Suraksha Dals and regularisation of contractual teachers. Though he said he would continue to support the government, he threatened to launch a major agitation if his demands are not met in 10 days. “I will continue to support the AAP Government on public-related issues,” he said.
Mr. Binny alleged that the government was not “sincere” with regards to implementing these promises.
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The party had expelled the Laxmi Nagar MLA on Sunday for allegedly breaching its discipline and making “baseless” allegation against it.
Before starting his fast, he had called on the Lieutenant-Governor to ask for the removal of Delhi Law Minister Somnath Bharti.
Though Mr. Binny distanced himself from both the BJP and the Congress, he found support in the Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Dr. Harsh Vardhan. “The issues that Binny has discussed and made public, and the questions he has raised before his party are serious,” the BJP leader said.
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Meanwhile in Mr. Binny’s constituency, his decision to go public against his party has irked residents. A security guard staying in Laxmi Nagar’s South Ganesh Nagar criticised his MLA for “being greedy” and “doing nothing” for the people in the area.
“He got the people’s vote in the name of the AAP and Mr. Kejriwal, otherwise, it was impossible to defeat A. K. Walia, who was a Congress stalwart and a Minister in the Sheila Dikshit Government. He should have stayed in the party and worked for the people of his constituency. Instead, I think, he got greedy and unduly ambitious,” said the security guard.
During his brief dharna, Mr. Binny said the Chief Minister wanted the government to fail, as he had already set his eyes on the Lok Sabha elections.
Mr. Kejriwal, however, reacted to the allegations by saying the AAP was not in the business of saving a government but wanted to serve the people instead.