Nirmala Sitharaman, rejecting the proposal of BJP’s ticket, said she doesn’t have “enough money” to contest the Lok Sabha elections. The Finance Minister announced on Wednesday that she had turned down the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) invitation to run in the forthcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections. She gave the excuse that she lacked the funds to run.
In Short
Nirmala Sitharaman was offered tickets
Nirmala Sitharaman mentioned that BJP President JP Nadda had offered her the option to contest elections from Andhra Pradesh or Tamil Nadu, but she rejected the proposal stating her lack of funds to run an election campaign.
During her address at the Times Now Summit 2024, the Finance Minister reflected, “Following a week or perhaps ten days of contemplation, I revisited my decision and concluded… perhaps it’s not the right path for me.” I don’t have enough money to contest the elections.”
#TNSummit2024
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) March 27, 2024
Governance is running now… Mohalla Clinics are rotting, when he (Arvind Kejriwal) was out he didn't visit the clinics. Now suddenly he has all the time to think about all this, sitting there in jail: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman)… pic.twitter.com/vYrbrL786e
The Dilemma
“I also have a dilemma whether it’s Andhra Pradesh or Tamil Nadu. There will be questions about various winnable criteria used by them… Are you from this community or that religion? Are you from here? I said no, I don’t think I can do this.”
Nirmala Sitharaman said, “I am very grateful that they accepted my reasoning… that’s why I’m not contesting the elections.” When asked why even the Finance Minister of the country doesn’t have enough funds to contest Lok Sabha elections, she said that India’s treasury is not hers.
She said, “My salary, my earnings, my savings are mine, not India’s treasury.”
Sitharaman would still be part of the BJP’s promotional campaign
However, Sitharaman said she would still be part of the BJP’s promotional campaign for the upcoming elections. She would support multiple BJP candidates, including Union Minister Rajiv Chandrasekhar, by taking part in media appearances.
Although Sitharaman won’t be vying for a seat this round, the BJP has put forward a slate of Rajya Sabha incumbents, comprising names such as Piyush Goyal, Bhupender Yadav, Rajiv Chandrasekhar, Mansukh Mandaviya, and Jyotiraditya Scindia.
For the 2018 general elections, the BJP has so far revealed a list of seven candidates, including party mainstays like Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, and Narendra Modi. BJP’s surprising candidates like actress Kangana Ranaut and acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal also made headlines in the past weeks.
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