BJP suspends Kirti Azad

Indian Member of Parliament from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Kirti Azad has said that Nepal should return 15 of its Terai districts to India. Azad, who was elected to India's lower house Lok Sabha for the third term from Dharbhanga, Bihar, made the statement while addressing a program in his constituency on Tuesday, reports Hindi daily Jagaran. Azad's statement came as he protested that Nepal government had not addressed the demands of the Madhesi agitation. A former cricketer of the Indian national team, Azad claimed that the 15 districts were once a part of India's territory and were granted to Nepal by the British rulers.

 He said that no one in the Indian establishment had taken initiative to reclaim these territories into India once the country got independence from the British rule, adding that he would raise the issue in the parliament and make an appeal to demand the concerned districts from Nepal. He argued that if Nepal failed to abide by the demand, then India should annex these territories. "If Nepal doesn’t return, these districts should be seized," he said. Azad has been demanding that a separate Mithila state be carved out of Bihar for Maithili speakers