Kirti Azad: News

Kirti Azad, born in Darbhanga, Bihar, is a former Member of Parliament in Lok Sabha and a part of the Indian National Congress (INC). A graduate of St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University, he was a cricketer who played for the Indian team that won the 1983 World Cup. In a short meeting with a BJP leader during a Ranji Trophy match in 1993, he is said to have been inspired to join politics. He successfully contested his first Legislative Assembly election from Delhi’s Gole Market on a BJP ticket in 1993. Later, he contested the 1999 Lok Sabha elections from Darbhanga and won; he was re-elected from the same constituency in the 2009 and 2014 General Elections. In 2015, Azad was vocal in his criticism against the then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s possible role in the District Cricket Association (DDCA) scam, which led to his expulsion from the BJP. He went on to join the Congress in 2019, the party that his late father—former Chief Minister of Bihar, Bhagwat Jha Azad—had served. Post his expulsion, Azad continued to hold the LS seat from Darbhanga. However, he suffered a defeat in the 2019 General Elections, losing to two-time MP Pashupati Nath Singh from Dhanbad, Jharkhand.