DDCA row: I'm not against Arun Jaitley but corruption, says Kirti Azad

Kochi: Suspended BJP MP Kirti Azad on Sunday said that his fight was not against finance minister Arun Jaitley personally but against the corruption that had taken place in the  Delhi  District Cricket Association (DDCA) when he was at its helm.

“A total of 200 letters and 500 emails were sent to the DDCA boss on the corruption  in the association but no action was taken. I am only trying to expose corruption  and  demanding action. I have never said that the BJP’s finance minister is corrupt. He is my leader,” said Mr Kirti Azad at a meet-the-press programme organised by the Ernakulam Press Club.

The BJP leader said the work on the Ferozeshah Kotla stadium in Delhi was done at a cost of Rs 58 crore but bills and vouchers for only Rs 25 crore were made available.

“There was no proof of cost escalation and it was approved by the executive committee without the bills,” he said.

He also wondered how the Test match became profitable  while Twenty20 made losses as per their calculation.

“Embezzlement is happening in crores while fines are being paid in thousands only,” he said and  termed  Hockey India  also as a den of corruption.

Mr Kirti Azad cast doubts over the investigation being conducted by the CBI into the DDCA issue and stated that while it continued to serve notices to DDCA, it had seized documents from the Delhi government.

Saying that the UPA and the NDA were united in corruption when it came to cricket, he  added that he was still looking forward to the PM  taking  action. “He was busy with Pathankot attack and I hope he will look into the issues soon,” he said.

He thanked cricketer Chetan Chauhan for filing a demotion suit against him. “Now I will get an opportunity to expose the people behind corruption,” he said.