Cricketer-turned-politician Kirti Azad joins Cong

New Delhi: The suspended Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP representing Darbhanga Lok Sabha constituency Kirti Jha Azad has on Monday joined the Congress. Azad was suspended by the ruling BJP for anti-party activities.

Azad, a former India cricketer and a member of the 1983 World Cup winning team, met Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday morning and was inducted into the party.

"Today in front of Rahul Gandhi I joined the Congress, I felicitated him in traditional Mithila style," Azad tweeted, along with photographs of him with the Congress president.

Azad was to officially join the opposition party on Friday, but the programme was cancelled in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack.

He was suspended by the BJP in 2015 after he levelled allegations against Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in connection with alleged irregularities in the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA).

Azad is currently serving his third term in the Lok Sabha, representing the Darbhanga constituency in Bihar. He is the son of late Bhagwat Jha Azad, a veteran Congress leader who had also served as the Chief Minister of Bihar for a brief period.

Welcoming him into the party, Congress' Bihar in-charge Shaktisinh Gohil said, "Azad belongs to the family of freedom fighters and he had also represented Delhi Legislative Assembly from 1993 to 1998. We all welcome him to the party."