Aljo K Joseph, lawyer for Christian Michel, expelled from Youth Congress

The Indian Youth Congress on Wednesday expelled its leader and lawyer Aljo K Joseph from the party after he appeared for Christian Michel, the alleged middleman in the graft-tainted Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper case.

"Aljo K Joseph appeared in his personal capacity. He did not consult the Youth Congress before appearing in the case. IYC does NOT endorse such actions. IYC has removed Aljo Joseph from IYC’s Legal Department and expelled him from the party with immediate effect," Amrish Ranjan Pandey, spokesperson of the Indian Youth Congress said in a statement.

"BJP is blowing this out of proportion and making an issue out of a non-issue," Amrish added.

Earlier today, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) attacked the Congress after it revealed that Joseph was a member of Indian Youth Congress's legal department.

"Meet the Congressman who is going to defend AgustaWestland 'middleman' Christian Michel... Does it get more obvious than that?," BJP's IT department chief Amit Malviya tweeted.