12.42 pm: Binny told us conflicting things are different points of time, says Yadav
Defending the party's initial stand against Binny, Yadav said that it was the AAP MLA who had misled us. "First he said it was not about him becoming a minister. It was about his self respect. Now he only is saying that his rights have been snatched," says Yadav, lobbing the ball back in Binny's court. "We have no reason to not believe one of our own party leaders otherwise."
"It's good that people have many expectations from us. It keeps us on our toes. However, with that, it also makes sense to keep a reasonable sense of time when it comes to getting things done. We are working hard to fulfill all our promises. Also, we will seek public opinion on issues we are confused on, issues on which we are unable to gauge what the public wants. The issues we are working on at the moment are ones on which the party already has a clear stand. The challenges now are the 'hows' and 'whens' which the government is working on already," he said.
12.16 pm : Yogendra Yadav promises disciplinary action against Binny
"There is place for differences, dissent and disagreement in our party. But there is no place for indiscipline. This is a very promising phase for India and Indian politics. Nobody has the right to make such in-disciplined display of dissent," he said.
He pointed out that in the two weeks that they have been in the government they have kept their promise of free water, slashed power rates, CAG audit of discoms, anti-corruption helpline etc. "Strangely, his address seemed like a speech written by someone else. You would remember, Binny's speech was uncannily similar to what BJP MLA Harsh Vardhan had to say about AAP in his Delhi Assembly address. I wonder why he sounded exactly like him," he said.
He has been giving hints to the media for so long now, said Yadav, pointing out that Binny never bothered to take these issues up with any complaint redressing facility within the party. "If he had so many issues with the manifesto, with our decisions, was it not his responsibility towards the nation to talk about it then. Before the polls, after the polls. Why is he bringing all this up now?"
Yadav hinted that Binny's disgruntlement stems from being denied a berth in the cabinet and then a Lok Sabha ticket.
"He asked for a Lok Sabha ticket and we denied. However, his allegations that we have already picked Lok Sabha candidates is untrue and false. If we have, tells us who is contesting from where. Consequently, you'll also get to see who all are contesting the polls," says Yadav.
10.33 am: Binny calls Ashutosh an opportunist and Kejriwal an autocrat
'Who is an opportunist? Ashutosh is an opportunist," said Binny. He added that Kejriwal's ways of working are autocratic and he doesn't agree with. However, he fails to furnish evidence that Congress and AAP are a team and had a backdoor arrangement before the polls. Asked if he has proof of the same, he said, "I heard this from sources. If I had proof, I would have furnished it already."
He also said that he would not leave the party and would keep protesting like this every time the party strayed from its objectives. "If the party wants me to quit I will still support them in the House on the issues I feel is right. I will oppose them on the issues I don't agree with."
Binny added that AAP has no intention to bring in good governance. "They want to scrape through two months and then channel their energies into the Lok Sabha poll and plunge into the usual dynamics of power," he added.
10.25 am: Why is the party not protesting about women's safety now?
Citing the gang-rape of the Danish tourist, Binny says, "Where are all the protest rallies now? This party should be ashamed. They talk a lot about women's safety and this is what happens after they come to power and they don't even comment on the issue."
He also brought up the Janlokpal issue and questioned why the Janlokpal Bill was not passed yet. "Kejriwal had said the Janlokpal Bill will be passed on 26 January. Where is the preparation for that?"
"They approved the water and electricity policies immediately to appease certain people. But now they are not doing anything," he alleged.
10.17 am: Finally, he talks about the Lok Sabha polls whose ticket he has been denied
"There are several forms of corruption. Taking someone's rights and giving it to someone else, is also a form of corruption," he said, finally making it clear, where his outburst stems from. "Shazia Ilmi, Kumar Vishwas, Gopal Rai are already campaigning in the constituencies they are supposed to fight the Lok Sabha polls from. When then is the party making a show of taking public opinion before choosing its candidates," he says.
Again, he doesn't mention which constituencies Ilmi and Rai are campaigning in. He only mentions Kumar Vishwas' rally in Amethi and says that there has been no formal announcement of his candidature. However, Vishwas himself had announced long back that he will be contesting from Amethi and had even invited Modi and Rahul to fight from the same constituency. In fact, that is the reason he was made to lead AAP's Amethi rally. Binny, however, chooses to ignore that bit of development and instead accuse that the party of not choosing poll candidates democratically.
He alleged that AAP was a party that could only rustle up drama and could take no solid action.
10.13 am: AAP has used me, says Binny
Binny also trashes the allegations of personal ambitions against him. "What did that party have when I joined it? it had nothing. What would they have given him? I gave them my name, my ideas which they used to win the polls in Delhi," he says.
"It hurts me when AAP says that I want to become a cabinet minister. What will I want from them? I have had a political career for 10 years unlike them. What would I want from them?" he said.
10.04 am: Electricity bills have been slashed for selected people Strangely enough, Binny, who presumably was privy to the manifesto when it was made, chose to brought up flaws in the AAP manifesto in this press conference. He said that Kejriwal was promised to slash electricity bills by 50 percent for everyone in Delhi. But after he came to power, he manipulated the clause to benefit a select few. "From what he had said, it was clear that if there was a bill of Rs 1 lakh it will be slashed to Rs 50,000. However, now they have made some changes to benefit a select few," he added, without mentioning what kind of changes that were made to the clause and who all now stand to benefit from the reduced electricity bills.
9.57 am: Vinod Binny criticises 700 litres free water clause Vinod Binny questions the 700 litres free water provision. "Delhi residents were tricked by word play. The manifesto mentioned that 700 litres of water will be given for free. But a clause was added that if someone uses more than 700 litres of water, that person will have to pay for the entire quantity of water. How does that make sense? AAP tricked people," said Binny.
9.45 am: What is Vinod Binny going to say today? For a two-year-old party tasting immense power for the first time, the AAP has managed to keep its flock together well for the time being. No MLA deflected post the elections even when the party had declared they it would not form the government. However, like any other political organisation fraught with many personal ambitions as collective aspirations, this party too has its share of differences and they have started to show up, a bit too prematurely and way too publicly. MLA Vinod Binny kicked up a storm when he allegedly rebelled at being denied a berth in AAP's cabinet in the past. Both the party and Binny had then come out and told the media that there was no such problem within the party.
Vinod Binny. IBN Live.
But on Wednesday, Binny lashed out at the government in Delhi saying that it has failed to deliver on its promises to the electorate of Delhi. "The government is not fulfilling the promises we made to the people," Binny told ANI today. I feel party is drifting away from the issues on the basis of which the party came to power, he said. "Tomorrow in a press conference I will disclose more details and if need be will sit on a hunger strike", he added. Binny is a former Congress party leader who had quit the party in 2011 and later joined the AAP. He had also won elections twice before as an independent MLA and in 2013 won in the Laxmi Nagar seat. After party MLA Vinod Kumar Binny accused the Aam Aadmi Party of failing to live up to its promises, party leader Arvind Kejriwal hinted that the party MLA's outburst may be linked to being denied a ticket to contest the Lok Sabha elections. Binny in turn has called the AAP chief a liar. "First he had come to me seeking a ministerial post, and we rejected the demand." "After that he said 'I will contest the Lok Sabha elections'. He had come to my house to seek a Lok Sabha ticket. The party has decided that no sitting MLA will get a ticket for the Lok Sabha elections," Kejriwal told reporters today. The Delhi Chief Minister added that there was a meeting of all 70 candidates who contested the Delhi polls but the MLA did not raise a single point in the meeting. "I do not know what his intentions are and I do not even want to get into them. We are the most sensitive government towards resolving issues. We welcome criticism, be it from the public, media or BJP," he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment