New Delhi, Dec 23: Cracking the whip, BJP Wednesday suspended its MP Kirti Azad, who has been leading a campaign against Union finance minister Arun Jaitley on alleged corruption in DDCA, charging him with anti-party activities and accusing him of “colluding” with Congress and AAP to bring it into “disrepute”.
The action of the BJP Parliamentary Board to suspend him from the party’s primary membership with immediate effect came three days after his press conference attacking Jaitley and subsequent acts of defiance both inside and outside Parliament.
A terse announcement suspending him came from the party headquarters but a detailed communication from the Board went to him listing his “anti-party” activities in and outside Parliament, “lowering the prestige” of the party and its office-bearers.
Azad, the third-term MP from Darbhanga from Bihar and a former cricketer himself, has been for years carrying out a campaign targeting Jaitley over DDCA affairs, but what turned the tide against him was the attack at a press conference here Sunday against party chief Amit Shah’s advice and open defiance on the floor of the Lok Sabha where he sought a time-bound SIT probe.
Revelling in the BJP’s troubles, the Congress wondered if BJP can “suspend free speech, fair comment, exposure of irregularities and corruption”.
“These are the questions the Prime Minister must answer,” party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who has been at the forefront of the attack on Jaitley, said, “There is no democracy in BJP. Honest voices are muzzled to protect corruption.” PTI
