Suspended BJP leader Kirti Azad to join Congress on February 15

Suspended BJP leader and three-time Member of Parliament (MP) Kirti Azad is set to join the Congress on February 15, Hindustan Times has reported.

The 60-year-old former cricketer was suspended from the BJP in 2015 for anti-party activities. Azad is also likely to stake claim to the Darbhanga parliamentary seat in Bihar, which has traditionally witnessed a strong fight between the BJP and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

However, it is not certain if the RJD has agreed to part with the Darbhanga seat and let the Congress contest from it. The two parties have declared that they will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls together, though the seat sharing arrangement has not yet been finalized.

Asked if his candidature from Darbhanga was cleared by the RJD, Azad told the publication that he was joining the Congress, not the RJD. “That makes many things clear and whatever is not clear today will become clear on February 15. There are no ifs and buts about it,” he added.

Son of former chief minister of Bihar Bhagwat Jha Azad, Kirti Azad is hell-bent on contesting from the Darbhanga seat, from where he has won thrice in the past.

In 2014, Azad had defeated RJD’s four-time MP Md Ali Ashraf Fatmi by nearly 34,000 votes. Fatmi, who had won against Azad in 2004, has been his main contender since 1999. If Azad is indeed given the ticket from Darbhanga, it will only play to his strength.