BJP reveals Lok Sabha election plan for Nirmala Sitharaman, S Jaishankar

While Nirmala Sitharaman is the finance minister, S Jaishankar holds the external affairs portfolio.

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has revealed that union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and S Jaishankar will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The party, however, hasn’t divulged where they will contest the elections from.

Nirmala Sitharaman and S Jaishankar are two of the most eloquent ministers of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet. They are members of the Upper House of Parliament, Rajya Sabha.

While Nirmala Sitharaman is the finance minister, S Jaishankar holds the external affairs portfolio.

They have been MPs for a long time now but haven’t faced popular elections.

Union minister Pralhad Joshi revealed that the party is planning their electoral debut in the Lok Sabha elections this year.

Joshi, who holds the Coal and Mines portfolio, said it has not been decided if Nirmala Sitharaman and S Jaishankar will contest from Karnataka.

“It is appearing in the media. More or less it is final that they (Nirmala Sitharaman and Jaishankar) will contest the Lok Sabha elections. It has not been decided yet from where they will fight, whether it is in Karnataka or some other state,” Joshi, who holds the Coal and Mines portfolio, told reporters here on Monday.

To a question whether it will be Bengaluru, Joshi said, “How can I answer when nothing has been finalised?”

While Sitharaman represents Karnataka, S Jaishankar represents Gujarat in the Rajya Sabha.

Nirmala Sitharaman joined the BJP in 2008 and served as the national spokesperson of the party till 2014. She became a junior minister after Narendra Modi became the prime minister of the country. The same year she became a member of the Rajya Sabha from Andhra Pradesh.

Nirmala Sitharaman has served as the defence minister of the country between 2017 and 2019.

S Jaishankar is a career diplomat. In 2015, he served as the foreign secretary. In 2019, he was inducted into Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet. He was also nominated to the Rajya Sabha. Over the years, he has attained popularity on social media due to his staunch defence of the Indian foreign policy on international forums.

With inputs from PTI

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