Former BJP leader Kirti Azad to join Congress today

Ending days of speculation, former BJP leader Kirti Azad is all set to join the Congress in New Delhi on Friday. The Darbhanga MP and former cricketer took to Twitter on Friday confirming the event. "Good morning I will be joining the @INCIndia at noon today in front of the young energetic president Shri @RahulGandhi followed by press conference at 2:00 p.m. at 24 Akbar Road," Kirti Azad tweeted on Friday. 

Earlier, he had claimed that the BJP had suspended him from the party for no fault of his. "I had not indulged in any anti-party activity, my fight was against a private institution (the Delhi and District Cricket Association) and had nothing to do with the party. Amit Shah (BJP president) stabbed me in the back,” he had told The Hindu. Azad was suspended from the BJP in 2015 for anti-party activities. He had voiced his difference with Union minister Arun Jaitley over issues in the DDCA. 

Azad is a three-term MP from Bihar's Darbhanga. Once in the Congress, Kirti Azad is likely to stake claim for his Darbhanga seat. The constituency had traditionally witnessed close competition between the BJP and the RJD. Azad's Congress entry is likely to change the equations this time. 

“The people of my constituency want me to fight in 2019. So I will be fighting the next general elections from Darbhanga itself. And I will fight on the ticket of a national party," Kirti Azad had told The Indian Express last year, hinting his Congress entry and wish to contest from his constituency in the general elections.