Why is Nirmala Sitharaman not contesting Lok Sabha elections? Finance Minister says ‘Don’t have money to…'

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has declined the BJP's offer to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Andhra Pradesh or Tamil Nadu. As the senior BJP leader put it during a recent media interaction, she did not have the 'kind of funds' required to launch a poll campaign.

“After thinking over a week or ten days, I just went back to say... maybe not. I do not have that kind of money to contest. I also have a problem whether it is Andhra Pradesh or Tamil Nadu. It's also going to be a question of various other winnability criteria that they use...Are you from this community or are you from that religion? Are you from this? I said no, I do not think I am going to able to do it. I am very grateful that they accepted my argument...So I am not contesting," Sitharaman said during the TIMES NOW Summit 2024.

The BJP has fielded several existing Rajya Sabha members in the upcoming elections including Piyush Goyal, Bhupender Yadav, Rajiv Chandrasekhar, Mansukh Mandaviya, and Jyotiraditya Scindia. Nirmala Sitharaman — currently a Rajya Sabha MP from Karnataka — however said that she would limit herself to campaigning for different candidates.

(With inputs from agencies)