New Delhi, Jan 8 (IANS): Facing all round criticism over inducting tainted former Uttar Pradesh minister Babu Singh Kushwaha, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Sunday said his membership has been suspended.

A party spokesperson told reporters Sunday that Kushwaha himself sought his membership to be suspended till he is proven innocent in a rural health scam. His request was accepted by party president Nitin Gadkari.

"Kushwaha-ji wrote to the party president asking him to suspend his membership until he is proven innocent, the president has accepted it," party spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain told reporters here.

Kushwaha, an OBC leader and former minister from Uttar Pradesh was inducted in BJP Tuesday with an eye on the assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh. However, it kicked up a storm of protests with many in the party voicing unhappiness over his alleged involvement in the National Rural Health Mission fund scam in the state.

According to sources, several senior leaders including L.K. Advani and Sushma Swaraj were also against his induction in the party, which has been targetting the Congress over corruption and is trying to lead an anti-corruption campaign.