BJP suspends Kirti Azad for taking on Jaitley

IANS NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 23 The BJP on Wednesday suspended MP Kirti Azad, who has alleged large-scale corruption in Delhi’s cricket body when it was headed by now Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. “Yes, he has been suspended for anti-party activities,” Bharatiya Janata Party general secretary Anil Jain told IANS, reading out an official statement. BJP spokesman G.V.L. Narasimha Rao added that the party acted against Azad, a three-time Lok Sabha member from Darbhanga in Bihar, for taking an “anti-BJP line”. Azad, a member of the 1983 Indian cricket team which won the World Cup, is the first BJP MP to be suspended since Narendra Modi became the prime minister in May last year. Azad has for years carried on a campaign against what he calls major corruption in the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA), which was headed by Jaitley for 13 years until 2013. Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party dubbed Azad’s suspension “unfortunate” and said he was being punished for battling corruption. I am out of BJP for speaking truth: Azad BJP MP Kirti Azad said on Wednesday that it was unfortunate he had been suspended by his party for “speaking the truth” about corruption in Delhi’s cricket body. “What anti-party activity have I done?” the three-time Lok Sabha member from Darbhanga in Bihar asked as journalists sought his reaction after the BJP announced his suspension for anti-party activities. He said he had never targeted Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who for years headed the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA), “although much of the wrongdoing took place during his tenure”. Jaitley headed the DDCA for 13 long years until 2013. Azad denied he was in collusion with the Congress or the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) which too have taken on Jaitley over the DDCA issue. “It is they who have taken up my issue.” Asked about his future programme, a defiant Azad said: “See, what happens now. The fun starts.”