HUBBALLI: Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Monday said Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will contest the Lok Sabha election, but from which constituencies is yet to be decided.
There has been speculation that Nirmala, who has been nominated to the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka, and Jaishankar could contest elections from Karnataka. Jaishankar’s frequent visits to the state have led to such talk. On media reports, he told reporters, “These influential ministers contesting the election is guaranteed, but it has not been decided from where. Both can contest from either Karnataka or other states.”
When pointed out that if they contest from the state, sitting MPs will lose their chance, Joshi said he cannot reply to a hypothetical question as the seats for the two ministers have not been decided.
Jaishankar is visiting Hubballi on Wednesday to interact with intellectuals, industrialists, students and leading personalities on the 10-year performance of the Narendra Modi government and is releasing a booklet on the achievements of Joshi, who is a four-time MP from Dharwad.
On the confusion over the candidate for Mandya LS constituency with sitting independent MP Sumalatha Ambareesh insisting on contesting from there, Joshi said the central leadership will clear all confusion soon. He ruled out any problems from BJP’s alliance partner JDS in the constituency. “Given the size of the party, such differences are common. But all those issues will be ironed out,” he said.
