Nirmala Sitharaman, Jaishankar to contest Lok Sabha polls: Pralhad Joshi

Pralhad Joshi. (Supplied)

Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said that Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and S Jaishankar will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

However, it has not been decided yet as to where they will contest from, he added.

“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 in Hubballi on Monday, 26 February.

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

Union Finance Minister Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister Jaishankar are Rajya Sabha members from Karnataka and Gujarat respectively.

Also Read: High-stakes Rajya Sabha elections from Karnataka: Independent MLAs in high demand

The equations in Karnataka

• In Karnataka, the BJP holds 25 out of 28 Lok Sabha seats, with one independent MP, Sumalatha from Mandya, pledging support to the party.
• The JD(S), represented by Prajwal Revanna in Hassan, is now in an alliance with the BJP.
• Plans are underway to change incumbent MPs in Bangalore South, Dharwad, Belagavi, and Haveri constituencies, currently held by
• Tejasvi Surya, Pralhad Joshi, Mangal Angadi, and Shivkumar Udasi, respectively.
• There are discussions within the state unit of BJP, led by BY Vijayendra, to propose Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as a candidate for the Bangalore South constituency, where she already has a residence.
• Another potential candidate for Bangalore South is Tejaswini Ananth Kumar, the wife of the late Ananth Kumar, a former Union minister.
• Union Minister and Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka, Rajeev Chandrashekhar, is also interested in contesting the Lok Sabha elections, preferably from Bangalore Central. However, some suggest he contest from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala to secure a BJP seat there.
• PC Mohan of the BJP currently represents the Bangalore Central seat.

(With PTI inputs)