New Delhi:
Kirti Azad, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Darbhanga and a former cricketer, will join the Congress on February 15, according to sources. Kirti Azad was suspended from the BJP after making a controversial statement against senior leader Arun Jaitley. As per the sources, Kirti Azad will formally join the Congress at the party headquarters in the presence of party president Rahul Gandhi. He was a three-time parliamentarian from Dharbanga.
“The BJP has backstabbed me though I served it faithfully for 26 years. The Congress is the only other national party where I can go,” Azad said as quoted by The Telegraph. He came down heavily on the BJP for having changed into a dictatorial unit run by “two-and-a-half people” and indulging in jumlebazi (hyperbolic talk) to fool the people. He also accused the party of talking about honesty but brushing corruption under the carpet.
The BJP had suspended the 60-year-old for “anti-party activities” in December 2015 after he had alleged corruption in the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) and pointed a finger at Union minister Arun Jaitley, who has been associated with the premier sports body. However, in his defence, Azad said, "I never spoke against the BJP or its organisational set-up, or against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. My fight was against corruption and irregularities in the DDCA, a private organisation, and Jaitley was a part of it. But no probe was ordered; and I was labelled a rebel and suspended."
