New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday suspended the Member of Parliament from Darbhanga from the party for anti-party activities and for dragging Finance Minister Arun Jaitley into the DDCA issue.
The party issued a 24-page suspension letter to Azad where it charged the former cricketer with anti-party activities and for "colluding with the opposition to embarrass the party".
There were speculations of the action after the end of the Winter session and that is exactly what happened. The move comes after statements made by Azad were picked up the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to step up its attack against Jaitley over allegations of corruption. Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP had raised the issue after the CBI raided the office of Rajendra Kumar, Principal Secretary in the Delhi government.
The decision came after the Parliament was adjourned sine die session and barely hours after the Prime Minister left for Russia.
Meanwhile, Azad said his suspension was a loss for the party and maintained that he had never named anyone personally. "What wrong have I done. If the party decides to suspend an honest member for raising his voice against corruption, it is unfortunate for the party," Azad told reporters in Ahmedabad. Azad further sent out a warning to the party when asked of his future course of action following the suspension.
"Ab aage aage dekhiye hota hai kya (wait and watch what happens now)," Azad said.
On Sunday, Azad had levelled allegations of corruption during the tenure of Jaitley at the helm of affairs at the DDCA at a packed press conference. He also raised the issue in Parliament without directly naming Jaitley.
However, his actions were enough to embarrass the party leadership who have been facing a rigorous onslaught from both the Delhi government and the Congress-led opposition parties in Parliament.
Though he shied away from directly naming Jaitley, his decision to hold a press was a direct defiance of the party's whip. BJP President Amit Shah had reportedly summoned Azad to the party headquarters where he is believed to have asked him not to rake up the issue as it was giving fodder to the opposition to step up its attack against the BJP in parliament.
Though Azad claimed that the "meeting" with Shah had gone off well, his refusal to cancel the press conference to "expose the DDCA" was seen as clear defiance.
The party has not specified any timeline with regard to his suspension. Azad is a former cricketer and a three-time sitting MP from the Bihar's northern district of Darbhanga.
His suspension also paves way for similar action against Shatrughan Sinha who has also been seen as indulging in anti-party activities.
