AAP expels Binny, who had called its CM ‘liar’

The Aam Aadmi Party on Sunday evening expelled its rebel member Vinod Kumar Binny, who had accused the Delhi government of deviating from its principles and poll promises and called chief minister Arvind Kejriwal a “liar”.

The Laxmi Nagar MLA had been openly criticising Mr Kejriwal for not fulfilling poll promises. Mr Kejriwal had said Mr Binny was upset as he was not given a ministerial job. He said the legislator was criticising the AAP as he wanted to contest the Lok Sabha elections.
A disciplinary committee formed by the party on January 19 to examine Mr Binny’s allegations decided to expel him for making “false” statements against the party and its leadership. The committee, headed by AAP leader Pankaj Gupta, said Mr Binny’s actions had brought “disrepute” to the party. The AAP said an expulsion letter had been issued to Mr Binny.
With this expulsion, the AAP is left with 27 legislators in the Delhi Assembly. It was able to form the government only with the support of eight Congress MLAs. It now has the support of 35 MLAs in the 70-member House, including the Speaker.
But with JD(U) MLA Shoiab Iqbal and one Independent offering outside support to the AAP government, it should not have any difficulty remaining in office in the event of a trust vote.