Nirmala Sitharaman, the finance minister, declined the BJP’s offer to run in the next Lok Sabha elections from Andhra Pradesh or Tamil Nadu. During a recent media discussion, the senior BJP politician stated that she lacked the ‘kind of cash’ needed to conduct a poll campaign.
Finance Minister says BJP president invited her to consider running; she cites “lack of money” and “winnability criteria” in southern states; she now has a Rajya Sabha seat whose term ends in June 2028.
“After thinking about it for a week or ten days, I just went back and said… maybe not. I do not have that type of money to compete. I likewise have a trouble deciding between Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. It will also depend on the numerous other winnability criteria that they apply…Do you belong to this community or that religion?
Are you from this? I said no; I don’t think I’ll be able to accomplish it. I am quite glad that they accepted my argument…So I am not contesting,” Sitharaman stated at the TIMES NOW Summit 2024.
“My salary, my earnings, and my savings are mine and not the Consolidated Fund of India,” she stated in response to a question about further details.
Several current Rajya Sabha members, including Piyush Goyal, Bhupender Yadav, Rajiv Chandrasekhar, Mansukh Mandaviya, and Jyotiraditya Scindia, have been fielded by the BJP for the 2018 elections. However, Nirmala Sitharaman, a Karnataka-based MP for the Rajya Sabha, stated that she will restrict her campaigning to supporting other candidates.
“I’ll be at a lot of media events as well. And accompanying the candidates—for example, tomorrow I’ll be attending Rajiv Chandrasekhar’s campaign; sure, I’ll be out and about,” she said.
