BJP’s elders meet, talk Kirti Azad over tea

Veteran BJP leaders LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Yashwant Sinha and Shanta Kumar held a meeting on Thursday, reportedly to discuss the suspension of Darbhanga MP Kirti Azad over his face-off with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

Azad, who has asked the veterans to intervene on his behalf, was expected to meet Joshi, at whose residence the meeting took place.

Both Advani and Joshi are part of the ‘Margdarshak Mandal’, a forum created by BJP president Amit Shah last year to accommodate the veterans in the organisational reshuffle during which they were removed from the BJP’s highest decision-making body, the Parliamentary Board.

Although the ‘Margdarshak Mandal’ has formally not met, Advani and Joshi had roped in Yashwant Sinha and Shanta Kumar to discuss the Bihar elections a day prior to Diwali last month. Following this meeting, the four leaders issued a scathing statement against both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah for the party’s humiliating defeat in the polls.

However, there was no public statement from the veterans after Thursday’s meeting. Only Shanta Kumar surfaced from the meeting to say that “we keep meeting over tea. Nothing specific was discussed. It is unfortunate that politics has come down to allegations and counter-allegations”.

Sources said the meeting was called to discuss the issues raised by Azad. The veterans reportedly feel that suspending the MP when he is talking against corruption may prove counter-productive for the party. The veterans will meet Azad and, if need be, convene another meeting to discuss the issue of his suspension.

The BJP downplayed the meeting. “They are our seniors. We welcome their guidance on all matters concerning the party,” BJP National Secretary Shrikant Sharma said.

Meanwhile, a defiant Azad kept demanding that the PM should intervene on the matter of his suspension and indicated he may seek a court-monitored probe in the scandals that he alleges took place in the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) during the 13 years that Arun Jaitley was its President.

Azad maintained that his fight was only against alleged corruption in the DDCA and not against any individual and asked for “specific reasons” for the disciplinary action against him by the party. “BJP and RSS always speak about uprooting corruption. We also talk about walking the path of Mahatma Gandhi. Thus, I wish that Narendra Modiji intervenes in this issue, goes deeper into it, and then tells me about what I have done wrong, as I need specific answers,” Azad told agencies in Ahmedabad

The former cricketer claimed that BJP leader Subramanian Swamy would help draft his reply to the suspension notice.

Swamy, on his part, appeared to question the party’s decision to suspend Azad, asking whether cricket fell within the purview of party discipline. “Kirti issues are 1. Is cricket affair within the purview of party discipline? 2. Due to SC case on BCCI, is party decision amenable in court?” Swamy said on Twitter.