by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group
Sushma shocks BJP, Not to contest Lok Sabha polls
Health reasons cited, no one convinced
Harish Gupta
New Delhi, Nov 20
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj dropped a political bomb when she declared that she won't contest the next Lok Sabha elections. The sudden announcement on the while interacting with reporters in Indore where she had gone for campaigning, shocked political circles across all hues.
Sushma Swaraj cited health reasons for not contesting the next Lok Sabha polls. The 66-year-old Sushma Swaraj, who underwent a kidney transplant in 2016, said she had conveyed her decision to the party. “Candidates are decided by the party. But I have made up my mind that I won't be contesting in the next elections.This is in keeping with my health,” she added.
Sushma Swaraj's announcement made the party leadership speechless as it came at a time when the BJP is engaged in bitter battle with Congress in Madhya Pradesh which goes to polls on November 28.
Once touted as a prime ministerial candidate in the BJP, Sushma Swaraj had to settle for the External Affairs Minister's post when Modi came to power. But she was relegated in the background as her services were not utilized for political affairs. Rather, an impressions was created that the PMO is running her ministry. Secondly, a couple of new women leaders like Textiles Minister Smriti Irani and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman are used more often for political work. Yet she made
Yet she did did at 66 what veterans shudder to even think to hang boots of electoral politics.
The tweetrati were out immediately after the announcement saying 66 years is “Too Young to Retire”. Her husband who is a former Mizoram Governor and senior counsel of Supreme Court Swaraj Kaushal came up with a fitting and amusing response to her decision, saying “there came a time when even Milkha Singh stopped running.”
While some questioned whether Swaraj’s decision reflected “her dissatisfaction” with the Modi government, others speculated if this meant her political career was over.
Some even said, “Doesn’t Mean Her Political Career is Over”. Obviously, she has only announced that she will not be contesting the Lok Sabha polls after remaining Lok Sabha MP for four terms. It is felt that she may come to the Rajya Sabha later and continue her parliamentary career.
She served as Union Cabinet Minister for Information and Broadcasting with additional charge of the Ministry of Telecommunications and Health Minister in Atal Behari Vajpayee's second government. She became External Affairs Minister in the Modi government in May 2014.
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