NEW DELHI: The BJP on Wednesday suspended its parliamentarian Kirti Azad , who has been openly targeting Union finance minister Arun Jaitley over alleged irregularities in Delhi's cricket body Delhi and District Cricket Association.

"Kirti Azad, Darbhanga MP, is suspended from party with immediate effect for his anti-party activities," a BJP statement said.

A show cause notice has been issued to him asking him to explain his "anti-party conduct", the party said, adding that further action will depend on his reply.

The decision to suspend MP Kirti Azad was taken by the BJP parliamentary board.

Disciplinary action has been expected for a while now, as Kirti Azad has been defiant in his attacks on Arun Jaitley on the DDCA issue. Azad has also been ignoring party warnings.

Azad had defied the party chief and went ahead with a press conference on Sunday highlighting corruption allegations linked to the Delhi and District Cricket Association(DDCA) of which Jaitley was the president for 13 years till 2013.

The BJP MP, who has been backed by former India cricket captain Bishen Singh Bedi and sulking BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha, followed up the presser with an open dare on social media and barbs in Parliament targeting Jaitley, prompting the party to crack the whip.

When Arun Jaitley filed a defamation suit against Arvind Kejriwal and other Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders, Kirti Azad had dared the finance minister to sue him as well.

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Kirti Azad's open statements have been extremely embarrassing for the BJP, with the opposition parties, especially the Congress and AAP, using Azad's allegations to attack the ruling party.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi came out strongly in Jaitley's support and said the finance minister will come out with flying colours like party veteran LK Advani did in the Hawala scam.

There have recently been many calls for action against Kirti Azad from within the party.

Bihar BJP leader Sushil Modi and Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan wanted the party to act against the BJP MP.

"Party democracy doesn't give you the right to slander and then get prodded by the opposition in Parliament. And then, you embarrass the government in Parliament. Through tweets, you provoke the leader and this entire episode amounts to gross indiscipline," BJP leader Siddharth Nath Singh had said.

"It's time for action. It is my feeling, because it's not giving a good name to the party. Because, this indiscipline is not giving a good signal to the party cadre," he had said when asked about possible action against Kirti Azad.

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Kirti Azad's suspension evoked strong reactions from the opposition parties.

Congress leader Digvijiya Singh said that Kirti Azad's crime was that he raised the issue of Corruption in DDCA with fact.

"Is this going to be the fate of all those in the BJP who raise issue of corruption? First Ram Jethmalani and now Kirti. Next Shatrughan Sinha?" Digvijaya Singh said on Twitter.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said that Kirti Azad's fault was that he had raised his voice against corruption.

"The BJP has been completely exposed," Kejriwal tweeted.

(With inputs from agencies)