Expelled AAP leader Binny joins BJP

Expelled AAP leader Vinod Kumar Binny Sunday joined the BJP ahead of the Feb 7 Delhi assembly elections. He slammed the AAP, saying the party was "responsible for emotional blackmailing".

Welcoming him to the Bharatiya Janata Party, its Delhi unit president Satish Upadhyay lauded the fact that Binny was the "first one to raise his voice against undemocratic processes in the AAP".

Talking to reporters, Binny lashed out at the Aam Aadmi Party.

"Had joined the AAP, but at the time didn't know all that was mere drama. The AAP is responsible for emotional blackmailing," he said.

Binny became a legislator from Lakshmi Nagar constituency in the 2013 Delhi elections, defeating Congress leader Ashok Kumar Walia by around 8,000 votes.

Soon after, he rebelled against the AAP and accused the party of betraying the people of Delhi and straying from its principles.

He was expelled from the AAP in January 2014.

Former Delhi chief minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal's former colleague from social activist Anna Hazare's India Against Corruption, Kiran Bedi, and former AAP member Shazia Ilmi also joined the BJP this week.

"I was part of Anna Hazare's movement against corruption. I didn't know that some opportunist people will dupe me and the people of Delhi. They made false promises and used a great man like Anna for their gains," Binny said.

Binny was first elected to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) as an independent in 2007. He joined the Congress in 2009, but later became an active participant in the India Against Corruption movement led by Hazare in 2011.

He was re-elected to the MCD in 2012, and joined the AAP after it was launched in November 2012.