Nirmala Sitharaman not to contest Lok Sabha polls
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that she turned down the BJP’s proposal to run in the Lok Sabha elections, citing a lack of necessary financial resources to compete. She disclosed that BJP President JP Nadda presented her with the opportunity to contest from either Andhra Pradesh or Tamil Nadu.
“After deliberating for about a week or ten days, I ultimately decided to decline the offer. I simply don’t possess the financial means required for such a campaign. Additionally, I harbour reservations about both Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu as potential constituencies. There’s also the concern of various other factors that influence electability, such as community affiliation or religious background. I realised that I wouldn’t be able to meet these criteria,” she explained during the TIMES NOW Summit 2024.
This points to the intense internal strife within the BJP, which is now lying bare. Recent developments within the power circles of the BJP suggest that the finance minister is giving a tough time to Narendra Modi as they have conflicting views on several political and economic issues.
Whispers within the power corridors also suggest that the finance minister will lose whichever seat she may contest as there is widespread discontent among the people regarding the economic policies of the first and second Modi governments, and Sitharaman has been the one off whose shoulder Modi has always misfired the gun.
