Sumitra Mahajan will not contest 2019 election, says 'BJP can decide any candidate'
Clearing the doubts over the candidature, Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan has said that she will not contest the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha election and in a letter, has also said that the party can decide whichever candidate they want.
New agency ANI tweeted, “Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan's letter announcing that she doesn't want to contest the 2019 elections. She also asks why a candidate has not been declared yet from Indore, appeals to BJP to name a candidate.”
Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan's letter announcing that she doesn't want to contest the 2019 elections. She also asks why a candidate has not been declared yet from Indore, appeals to BJP to name a candidate pic.twitter.com/zruHJVCBXF
— ANI (@ANI) April 5, 2019
BJP had been silent over the candidature of Lok Sabha speaker and veteran BJP leader Sumitra Mahajan and had not named any candidate from the Indore constituency, even after releasing 8 or 9 list. It was being speculated in the media that as Mahajan will be 76 next month, breaching the 75 years mark, the BJP might not hand her a ticket this time around.
Sumitra Mahajan has been a Member of Parliament since last nine times and the decision by her will pave for a fresh face in Indore. Earlier, it was External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj who had put down her papers and announced that she will not contest the upcoming polls due to her bad health. She used to contest from Vidisha.
BJP, under Shivraj Singh Chouhan, had lost the Assembly election last year to the Congress party and is facing an anti-incumbency in the state of Madhya Pradesh.
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First published: 5 April 2019, 14:10 IST