Sumitra Mahajan Not to Contest in 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, Questions BJP For Not Declaring Candidate From Indore
Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Friday announced that she would not be contesting the upcoming general elections. She also questioned the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for not declaring a candidate from her constituency, Indore.
Indore, April 5: Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Friday announced that she would not be contesting the upcoming general elections. She also questioned the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for not declaring a candidate from her constituency, Indore. In a statement, the Lok Sabha speaker said that the party is now free to name a candidate from the constituency. She also thanked the people of her constituency and BJP workers for supporting her. Lok Sabha Elections 2019 Schedule: Voting In 7 Phases From April 11 to May 19, Counting And Results On May 23; Check All Dates For General Elections.
Mahajan is the speaker of the 16th Lok Sabha. She got elected to the lower house for the eighth time in 2014 and has represented the Indore constituency of Madhya Pradesh since 1989. Mahajan also served as a Union Minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee cabinet from 2002 to 2004 holding the portfolios for Human Resources, Communications and Petroleum. Indore Lok Sabha Constituency in Madhya Pradesh: Candidates, Current MP, Polling Date And Election Results 2019.
The Lok Sabha elections in Madhya Pradesh will take place in four phases. Six parliamentary seats of the state will be contested in the fourth phase, on April 29; seven seats in the fifth phase, on May 6; eight seats in the sixth phase, on May 12; and the remaining eight seats including Indore will go to polls on May 19. The results will be declared on May 23.
Sumitra Mahajan's Statement:
Last year in November, Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj had also announced that she would not contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The 66-year-old cited health reasons to take a backseat from electoral politics. In 2009, when the Congress held on to a second consecutive term in power, Swaraj was appointed as the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 05, 2019 02:30 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).