Within a matter of a few hours, Janata Dal (United) MlA Shoaib Iqbal and Independent MlA Rambeer Shokeen on Monday did a complete volte-face and said they will support the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
The announcement came a day after the duo along with expelled MlA from laxmi Nagar, Vinod Kumar Binny, had threatened to withdraw support to the AAP-led Delhi Government. They even announced of forming a ‘non-political’ organisation for raising public issues.
In an overnight retraction, the duo on Monday changed their mind after a meeting with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at the Delhi Secretariat. “Today, we met Kejriwal and had a good discussion on the issues raised by us. After the Chief Minister’s assurance, we will not withdraw the support to his Government. Hence, we take back our 48-hour ultimatum given to the Government on Sunday,” Shoaib said. However, there was no official confirmation from the Chief Minister’s end on agreeing to the demands of the disgruntled MlAs. Interestingly, expelled AAP member, Binny, preferred to give the visit a miss.
During his meet, Shoaib submitted a 10-point letter to Kejriwal which include demands like reversal of the surcharge on power tariff, making water consumption up to 700 litres a day free without any caveat, probe into the Commonwealth Games, expanding the lal Dora scheme and women’s security. Interestingly, sources said, Iqbal mostly highlighted issues in his constituency (Matia Mahal) and demanded Kejriwal re-introduce the Walled City Development Board. Urging Kejriwal to become the prime ministerial candidate for AAP and pitching himself for a ticket in the upcoming lok Sabha elections, he also suggested that Kejriwal must put up a strong contender against Kapil Sibal who is an MP from Chandni Chowk.
While Binny remained unavailable for comments on continuing support to the rookie party, Iqbal claimed that he was with them in the decision. “Binny too has supported us on not withdrawing support to the AAP-led Government,” he said. When asked whether their threat to withdraw support was only a ploy to blackmail the Government, Iqbal replied, “If raising public issues was blackmailing, then we would continue blackmailing.” He also said that he along with Shokeen and Binny have formed a non-political organisation called Delhi Vikas Morcha. “By forming Delhi Vikas Morcha, we will raise public issues. It is a non-political organisation and anybody can join it,” Iqbal said.