Hyderabad National International Specials General

Castigation Publicly Targeting Finance Minister Arun Jaitley

Wed 23 Dec 2015, 19:41:07

In a one-line statement, the BJP said Mr Azad has been suspended for "anti-party activities."Mr Azad, the three term 56-year-old MP from Darbhanga in Bihar, defied party chief Amit Shah's whip and held a press conference on Sunday, all but naming the finance minister while alleging deep corruption in the Delhi and District Cricket Association or DDCA, which Arun Jaitley headed for 13 years. Amit Shah, said party sources, had met Kirti Azad twice on Friday last and warned him against going public with his charges against Mr Jaitley, saying it would hurt the BJP and the government it leads.

Kirti Azad found support today from fellow BJP lawmaker from Bihar, Shatrughan Sinha, who called him a "hero" and warned the party against taking action "against friend who's fighting against corruption." The suspension order accessed "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." attacking the minister in multiple tweets.Jaitley has dragged five leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party, including Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to court over their allegations of corruption against him, but he made no such move against Mr Azad, amid speculation that the BJP would punish the lawmaker after the winter session of Parliament ended today. In rebellion unprecedented in the BJP's history, Kirti Azad also took on Mr Jaitley on the floor of Parliament, seeking a CBI investigation monitored by a special investigation team into his allegations. He signed off by reminding the House, "and we know who was heading the DDCA between 2008 and 2013," a reference to Mr Jaitley.