New Delhi, Dec. 18: BJP president Amit Shah summoned party MP Kirti Azad, a critic of finance minister Arun Jaitley, to his home this evening and counselled the former cricketer to be "restrained" in his attacks on senior leaders, sources said.
But the Lok Sabha member from Darbhanga in Bihar told reporters afterwards he would go ahead with his Sunday news conference and "spill the beans" on the "rot" in the Delhi and District Cricket Association that Jaitley headed till 2013.
The Aam Aadmi Party has been repeating charges Kirti had levelled against Jaitley over the past few years -about alleged funds diversion, duplication of bills, clearance of dubious loans, illegal cash transactions and the hiring of superfluous workers. No documentary evidence has been provided, though.
The BJP has never sought an explanation from Kirti, son of former Bihar chief minister Bhagwat Jha Azad, for his attacks on Jaitley. He was fielded in last year's general election despite opposition from a party lobby.
A source close to Shah said he did not mention Kirti's scheduled media conference on Sunday but advised "restraint", citing how the Opposition had used his campaign to attack the party.
The source said Shah reminded Kirti that his charges against Jaitley went back to 2013 when the Congress was in power in Delhi and at the Centre, and yet nothing had come out of the investigations.
"It was a good meeting. I will hold the press conference," Azad told the media. Afterwards, he refused to take calls, communicating his views through tweets instead.
His last tweet was in his native Maithili: " Sar pichcha nahi hatbaak che, Darbhanga apan Mithila ke naam uncha rakh baak che (I shall not bow my head, Darbhanga, I shall make Mithila proud)."
Kirti re-tweeted a post from ABP News' Abhisar Sharma that said: "If @KirtiAzad MP retweets you, means he will not back down. If he does not...means...."
A BJP source said Shah might ask foreign minister Sushma Swaraj or home minister Rajnath Singh or both to try and persuade Kirti to cancel his news conference. Failing that, he would be asked not to mention Jaitley.
Sushma happens to be Kirti's original patron and Rajnath had lobbied hard to get him a party ticket for the last Lok Sabha polls.
Party insiders ruled out action against Kirti, said to nurse a grudge against Jaitley for allegedly edging him and wife Poonam out of Delhi politics. Yesterday, BJP general secretary (organisation) Ramlal had summoned Kirti and heard him out.
AAP charges
The Aam Aadmi Party today hurled a list of accusations against Jaitley relating to his tenure in the cricket body, a few being:
• Private firm 21st Century Media, whose MD Lokesh Sharma apparently studied in the same college as Jaitley, was allowed to "sell and sublease (10 corporate boxes at Feroz Shah Kotla) for Rs 36 crore for which a commission was paid".
Sharma tonight issued a legal notice asking the party to apologise or face a defamation suit, PTI reported.
• ONGC was asked to give Rs 5 crore to Hockey India, where Jaitley's daughter Sonali and her husband Jaiyesh Bakshi are members of two panels;
• Rs 57 crore was paid to nine companies to develop the Kotla stadium, all with the same address, email IDs and directors.
