DDCA row: Jaitley cannot hide behind party discipline, Azad tells BJP

Unfazed by the prospect of his expulsion from the Bharatiya Janata Party, suspended MP Kirti Azad on Friday again attacked the finance minister and told the party that Arun Jaitley cannot take the shield of party discipline as the Delhi cricket body issue has no link with the BJP.

In his point by point rebuttal of the charges in the show cause notice slapped on him by the party on Thursday, Azad said he had been pursuing the issue of "corruption" in the Delhi and District Cricket Association for the past nine years "without any let up" and was not even once told by the BJP not to pursue it.

Questioning the party's action against him, he said that he did not "name Jaitley or any party person" in the issue and the party did not depute Jaitley as the DDCA head.

He also made an apparent reference to previous BJP chiefs, saying "all three respected party presidents also realised that cricket had no connection with our party activities and Jaitley's role in the DDCA was his own concern." He did not name them.

"Not one office-bearer apart from Jaitley has reason to feel aggrieved by my or the cricketers' (Bishan Singh Bedi and others) complaint of wrongdoings in DDCA, a combative Azad said.

"Humbly, I do not understand how an individual who has chosen to involve himself in activities that have no connection with the party can later claim the shield of party discipline when instances of wrongdoing in that body are raised and proved," says his reply to the party.

He noted that he had told party chief Amit Shah and general secretary, organisation, Ram Lal when he was summoned by them on December 18 that Jaitley was not deputed by the BJP to be the DDCA head.

"In case he chose to be the DDCA president he was opening himself to all associated risks that are entitled in running an organisation and that he could not claim the shield of party position if he got implicated in any mismanagement, fraud and irregularity," Azad said in his reply while referring to the meeting.

He had told Shah that he was willing to give all documents regarding the "corruption in DDCA" in a joint meeting with Jaitley but neither Shah nor Ram Lal got back to him.

"Since neither called back I assumed that a cricketing matter had no relation with any party activity and that I will be well within the norms of discipline if I did not name anybody in the party. I did not name Jaitley or any party person," he says in his reply, while justifying his decision of holding press conference.

While keeping up the attack on Jaitley, Azad said he had never "defamed" the party or its office-bearer, as said by the show cause notice, and insisted that he had been a "loyal party soldier for last 22 years and I owe my success and identity to the BJP". 

During his meeting with Shah and Ram Lal, Azad claimed he had showed them "proof" of the alleged DDCA corruption.

Refuting the party's charge that he was involved in "anti-party" activities, the three-term MP from Darbhanga in Bihar said, "I have never outside party forum alleged that our party men are involved in corrupt activities. The inference of Jaitley that he has been specifically targeted by me is therefore untrue and misplaced."

Justifying his decision to hold press conferences on the DDCA affairs, he said he assumed that a cricketing matter had no relation with any party activity and that he would be well within the norms of discipline if he did not name any party person. "I did not name Jaitley or any party person."

The show cause notice has also said that he spoke in the Lok Sabha on the issue after being encouraged by Congress members, a charge he denied in his reply saying he spoke only after the Speaker asked him to and merely demanded a time-bound CBI probe.

He had also commended the Centre for a CBI probe into the matter and the agency has already issued four notices, he noted.

BJP has also accused him of speaking against the party and its office-bearers after the Delhi and Bihar assembly elections in February and November last year respectively.

He used terms like "asteen ke sanp" (snake in grass) against some office bearers and spoke about internal feud in the party, the notice said.

Rejecting it, Azad said, "Send me copy of any media report to support the contention that I had defamed the party. After the Bihar election in November, I did not raise any issue and in an interview I took responsibility for the loss in my constituency.

"I maintained that the Prime Minister and central leadership could not be held responsible for the loss since all local leaders had failed to communicate the schemes and achievements of the central government."

Noting that he joined the party in 1993 when it was going through a poor phase and has been working as a loyal soldier, he implored the leadership to "terminate the proposed disciplinary proceedings against me so that I may resume work as a proud member and MP of BJP".