New Delhi :
- Born on January 2, 1959, to former Bihar chief minister Bhagwat Jha Azad and Indira Jha Azad, Kirti Azad is a graduate from St Stephen's College in Delhi. A right-handed batsman and off-spinner, he represented India in seven Tests and 25 ODIs. He was also a member of India's 1983 World Cup-winning squad. His brilliant spell of bowling against England in the semi-final of the World Cup helped India win the game by 6 wickets.
- Kirti Azad joined the BJP in the early 1990s. He emerged victorious in the Delhi Assembly elections in 1993 from the Gole Market constituency. He defeated Congress candidate Brij Mohan Bhama. In 1998, he lost his seat to Congress' Sheila Dikshit, who would go on to serve as Delhi Chief Minister for three consecutive terms.
- In 1999, Mr Azad was elected to Parliament for the first time from Darbhanga in Bihar. He was again elected to the Lok Sabha from Darbhanga for two consecutive terms in 2009 and 2014 on a BJP ticket.
- An outspoken leader, Kirti Azad was suspended by the BJP in 2015 after he criticised Arun Jaitley, the then Finance Minister, over alleged corruption in the Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA). Mr Jaitley headed the Delhi cricket body at the time. Mr Azad received support from both the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Congress after he was suspended by the BJP.
- In February 2019, Kirti Azad joined Congress and called it a "gharwapsi (homecoming)". His father Bhagwat Jha Azad was a Congress leader, who became an MP in 1952 at the age of 26. In 2019, Kirti Azad, who spent 26 years in the BJP, unsuccessfully contested the Dhanbad Lok Sabha seat for Congress. In 2021, he joined the Trinamool Congress and is also the state in charge of the party in Goa.
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