Finance minister Arun Jaitley was pleasantly surprised to see SAD chief and the chief minister of Punjab Parkash Singh Badal in his chambers inside Parliament House. Badal (90) had dropped in to give to lend support to Jaitley just as he was about to leave for the Patiala House Court to file the criminal defamation case against the AAP leaders. Jaitley got up from his seat and thanked Badal and asked for his blessings. Many union ministers present in the chambers were moved to witness this scene. Badal's party, Shiromani Akali Dal, is a BJP ally.

Meanwhile, in the Lok Sabha today, Congress president Sonia Gandhi signaled BJP MP Kirti Azad to stand up and speak on the DDCA ''scam'. The entire Lok Sabha including the press gallery watched Sonia tell Azad. BJP MPs also watched the scene.

Going public on Sunday with his allegations of irregularities in the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA), Kirti Azad targeted his own party leader and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who is already under fire from the AAP government in Delhi and the Congress.

Azad released a video by Wikileaks4India and the Sun Star newspaper which purportedly show that 14 companies paid by DDCA for renovation works at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium do not exist in the addresses mentioned in the bills.

He did not name Jaitley but released a statement in which he posed 52 questions to the minister on not only his role in the DDCA but also his and his familys alleged involvement in Hockey India.


Pic: A file picture of Parkash Singh Badal with Arun Jaitley.