Jaitley knows women were used to woo selectors: Azad

Former cricketer and BJP MP Kirti Azad has claimed Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) president Arun Jaitley is aware that alcohol, money and women were used to influence selectors of the Delhi team.

"This is well known in the DDCA and has been going on for a long time, even before Jaitley took charge. I fail to understand why he is trying to hide it. He is very much aware of it," Azad told.

Azad said he had earlier raised with Jaitley the issue of nepotism in team selection and the DDCA president seemed keen to take action, but nothing happened until Sehwag made some noise about it.

"I have nothing personal against Jaitley. I feel sorry for him as people are shooting from his shoulder," he said.

Azad claimed that the problems in DDCA existed even during Tiger Pataudi's time. "Tiger Pataudi played for Delhi about 45 years ago. And he raised the same problems (as raised by Sehwag)," Azad said.

Jaitley has asked for proof of the use of alcohol, money and women to influence selectors, to which Azad said: "I invite Jaitley to come over. I will get all the senior players and the people involved to prove my point."

Earlier this year, Jaitley had opposed Azad's candidature from the Darbhanga Lok Sabha constituency. Asked if the current spat had its roots in the political tiff between the two, Azad said: "Jaitley may not have approved of my candidature, but my fight against the DDCA has been going on even before he became an MP."link