DDCA row: Angry Kirti Azad demands explanation for suspension from PM Modi

An indignant Kirti Azad, suspended Lok Sabha MP and former cricketer, on Thursday reacted in a press conference to his suspension from the BJP and said that the party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi should come clean about the sudden suspension. “Prime Minister Modi should come forward and tell me what my fault is,” Azad said. “It wasn’t specified in the notice which anti-party activity I engaged in… I have been raising my voice against corruption in DDCA for nine years. Was I punished for that?” Adding that BJP leader Subramanian Swamy would help him draft his response to the party notice, Azad also dismissed allegations that he had been in touch with a person from the AAP or the Congress. “If I met someone from another party, at least my party should tell me specifically who that is,” he said. Subramanian Swamy also confirmed to ANI that he will assist Azad with the reply. “I confirm I will assist Kirti Azad to draft a reply to the notice from BJP,” he said. [caption id=“attachment_2558122” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Kirti Azad. PTI[/caption] Azad further said that the DDCA corruption issue wasn’t a party matter at all. “I never made DDCA controversy a party issue… For nine years, no party member has made this an issue… I am speaking against corruption. How is this related to the party?” He also said that he had raised his voice against a lot of other corruption cases related to the BCCI as well. “You (NDA) are the government. I am an MP. I raised some concerns and I have been suspended. But I hope that in three months the DDCA matter will be solved,” Azad said. “I also hope that BJP’s Marg Darshak Mandal looks into this,” he added. “If saying the truth is a crime, then I will keep committing this crime,” he said. On being asked whether BJP will also take action against Shatrughan Sinha for calling Azad “hero of the day” in a tweet, Azad said, “Shatrughan Sinha has not said anything wrong.” On Wednesday night, hours after being suspended from BJP, Kirti Azad had slammed the party’s move, stating that he was punished for speaking the truth and highlighting corruption. During a brief interaction with the media at the airport in Ahmedabad after his arrival on Wednesday evening, Azad said he never pointed fingers at any particular individual when he spoke about corruption in the DDCA, once headed by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. Azad had claimed he was just following the policy enunciated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi against corruption. “BJP suspended someone who was fighting against corruption. I only highlighted some issues related to corruption. I did not take any names or demanded that someone be suspended or ousted. I have not said that Arun Jaitley is a thief,” Azad had said from Darbhanga in Bihar. “I have not said anything against the party. I even said that I support Modi and his views about corruption, where he preaches ‘I will not eat and I will not allow others to eat’. That is why I highlighted the corruption going on since the last nine years (in DDCA). “I have been talking about for the last nine years whatever is going on (in DDCA). I have been speaking about it (corruption), but nobody listened to me,” Azad had claimed. “It is unfortunate that someone who is fighting against corruption, the one who speaks the truth, the one who is being harassed for these many years, has suddenly become ‘anti-party’ and thrown out,” Azad had added. Kirti Azad had also threatened to roll out “more revelations” in the coming days and said he didn’t expect the party “to stoop so low” by acting against him for “speaking against corruption”. Congress reacted swiftly to the latest on the DDCA row saying Azad’s ouster reflects the BJP high command’s favorite method of functioning - “my way or highway.” “Now you see and look at the Opposition, how they will have them. They will use my name and attack. My party gave it to them on the platter, not me,” Azad had said, adding that those who have suspended him for raising a voice against corruption have “defamed” the Prime Minister. BJP has charged the cricketer-turned-politician with involvement in anti-party activities and accused him of “colluding” with Congress and AAP to bring the party 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 in Delhi attacking Jaitley and subsequent acts of defiance both inside and outside Parliament. (With inputs from PTI)