Like father, like son.
The suspended BJP MP from Darbhanga in Bihar, Kirti Azad, has perhaps done more than what his chief minister father, Bhagwat Jha Azad, did in 1988.

While junior Azad was suspended on December 23, 2015 by the BJP, the Congress did not take any such action against his father. But he had to bow out of office only after serving as the chief minister of Bihar for only one year.

Immediately after taking charge of the state he launched a crackdown against the co-operative mafia, which allegedly enjoyed the patronage of the then Congress MP, (now late) Tapeshwar Singh.
The crusade against the co-operative mafia divided the Congress in Bihar. Dr Jagannath Mishra emerged as the leader of dissidents. Once Congress MLAs openly clashed among themselves on the floor of Bihar Assembly.

But the Congress did not let Dr Mishra become the chief minister. Senior Azad was succeeded by Satyendra Narayan Sinha, during whose tenure the infamous Bhagalpur riots started on October 25, 1989. That was less than a month before the first phase of Lok Sabha election, which the Congress lost.

Finally, on December 6, 1989 Dr Mishra replaced Sinha to become the chief minister for the third and the last time.

Years later the Bhagalpur Riots Inquiry Commission report held the political clash between supporters of Bhagwat Jha Azad and Speaker of Bihar Assembly in late 1980s S C Jha also responsible for the large scale communal violence.

Before becoming the chief minister in 1988 Azad won the Lok Sabha election from Bhagalpur in 1980 and 1984 and went to become a minister in the Union cabinet. Jha, on the other hand, was a local MLA.
Sometimes after the defeat of 1989 election Azad joined the BJP. His son, who used to play cricket for Delhi and India, too jumped into the Delhi politics. It is much later that he shifted to his home state.
The Congress never recovered in Bihar since then.

On his part Kirti Azad has been raising the issue of corruption in DDCA for the last nine years. Unlike his Congressman father, who joined the BJP at the fag end of his career, Kirti was always with the saffron party. If the father tried to smash co-operative mafia within the party the son was out and out against Arun Jaitley who had served as the DDCA boss for about 14 years. Kirti got less support from the party but more from the cricketing greats of Delhi like former India captain Bishen Singh Bedi, Madan Lal, Surendra Khaana etc who all played for India.

Yet the Bharatiya Janata Party chose to give him ticket from Darbhanga in both 2009 and 2014 Lok Sabha elections, which he won.

At the time of campaign last year there was rumour in the media circle that Arun Jaitley was not in favour of Azad getting ticket. But perhaps his connection with Sushma Swaraj worked.

Though it was not possible for Jaitley to ensure his defeat yet some reports suggested that victory of the former cricketer was the last thing he wanted.

The big question is: why Azad got the ticket though he was dead against Jaitley for so many years. Ironically, he won while Jaitley lost from Amritsar even during the Narendra Modi wave.

Insiders are of the view that though some top ministers are supporting Jaitley many party ministers and MPs are dead against him and are secretly lending moral support to Azad. That is why when the latter was speaking in Lok Sabha hardly anyone from within the BJP opposed him.

So far another Bihari, Shatrughan Sinha, has come out in his favour.

Thanks to Azad, the BJP is now neck deep in trouble. He has given enough ammunition to the Aam Admi Party and Congress to fire on Narendra Modi, who is at present on tour to Russia.