Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to Contest Lok Sabha Polls, Says Minister Pralhad Joshi

Central Minister Pralhad Joshi announced on Monday that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar are set to participate in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. He stated that it is almost certain that they will contest the elections. However, the decision on whether they will compete from Karnataka or from an outside constituency is yet to be finalized.

The media is speculating that either Jaishankar or Sitharaman will contest from Bengaluru. In 2019, BJP secured victories on all three seats in Bengaluru. Sitharaman represents Karnataka in the Rajya Sabha and is well acquainted with Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well.

Daughter of Madurai, Sitharaman, had recently visited Tamil Nadu before the foundation-laying ceremony of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and attended an event in Kanchipuram. On the other hand, Jaishankar, who received his early schooling in Bengaluru, actively campaigned for the party ahead of the Assembly elections last year.

There are also hints within BJP circles that the State Minister for Electronics and IT, Rajiv Chandrashekhar, might contest from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala. He was not nominated for the Rajya Sabha again by the party, paving the way for him to enter the parliamentary elections.

Chandrashekhar had supported the party’s campaign efforts centered in Bengaluru. However, sources suggest that BJP could ask him to contest from Thiruvananthapuram. The current MP from Thiruvananthapuram is Congress’ Shashi Tharoor.