BJP suspends Kirti Azad over corruption allegations against Jaitley

BJP suspends Kirti Azad over corruption allegations against Jaitley

New Delhi: The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday suspended former cricketer and party MP Kirti Azad for "anti-party activities" after he levelled allegations of corruption in the DDCA against Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. This also came two days after his controversial tweet against the latter on Monday night.

In a one-line statement, the BJP said Azad was suspended for his "anti-party activities."

The suspension order read: "Over the past few months you have breached party discipline and conducted anti-party activities. Inside and outside Parliament you conducted yourself in a manner that amounts to indiscipline and anti-party activities. You made several statements to carry out a false propaganda. So the parliamentary board has suspended you from the party membership."

Azad in a controversial tweet had alleged threat to his life, warning Jaitley that he was not afraid of "impotent" people. However, in an apparent volte-face just one hour after the controversial post, Azad tweeted that his account was "hacked".

"I was visited at home by so many agencies to take precaution against threat to my life. Dear darta nahin hoon napunsako se (sic)," Azad tweeted at 11:51 pm on Monday night.

Azad has since deleted his tweet, but NewsGram is in the possession of a screenshot thereof.

However, he was able to take control of his Twitter account just one hour later, claiming his account was hacked and that the tweet on Arun Jaitley was not posted by him.

Azad – who has alleged massive financial irregularities in Delhi's cricket board – also called for a CBI inquiry in the scam in the Lok Sabha the same day, daring Jaitley to sue him.

The BJP leader's suspension comes on a day when BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha described him as a "hero".

Calling Kirti Azad the "hero of the day," the outspoken actor-turned-politician, who had rubbed the Bharatiya Janata Party the wrong way during the Bihar assembly elections too, urged the party not to take action against the former cricketer for alleging corruption in the DDCA when Jaitley headed it.

Sinha had a piece of advice for Jaitley, who headed the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) for 13 years till 2013.

Veteran BJP leader L K Advani had declined to contest elections when he was accused of involvement in the hawala scandal in the 1990s.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that Jaitley would come out of the DDCA row with flying colours — a la Advani.

Azad's suspension also comes a day after senior Bihar BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi demanded disciplinary action against the former cricketer for targeting Jaitley over the DDCA issue.

(With inputs from agencies)

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