Opted out of LS, didn’t have kind of money to contest, says Nirmala

FINANCE MINISTER Nirmala Sitharaman said she “did not have the kind of money required to contest a Lok Sabha election” and hence she “respectfully” turned down the BJP’S offer to contest from some constituency in Andhra Pradesh or Tamil Nadu.

Another factor that the minister considered while declining the offer was “winnability criteria relating to community and religion”, she said at the Times Now Summit on Wednesday night.

Replying to a question on whether she was going to contest the Lok Sabha polls, like many of her colleagues from the Rajya Sabha, Sitharaman said, “The party did ask me but after thinking over it for a week or 10 days, I went back to say, maybe not. My party president asked me ‘would you want to contest from somewhere in the south – option is yours, Tamil Nadu or Andhra Pradesh’, but I don’t have that kind of money to contest. I also have a problem because whether it is Andhra or Tamil Nadu, it is also going to be a question of the various kinds of winnability criteria that they use — are you from this community, are you from this religion? I said I don’t think I will be able to do it. The party was graceful enough ... to accept my arguments and say ‘chalo , you won’t’. So, I am not contesting.”

Asked if money power was such an influence that even the ‘Winnability criteria of community and religion other reasons’ Finance Minister could not contest a Lok Sabha election, Sitharaman said, “My budget, my salary, my earning, my saving is mine, and not the Consolidated Fund of India. And obviously, I can’t.”

Asked about the Finance Minister' s com men ts,bjp national spokesperson Guru Prakash Paswan told The Indian Express, “She was asked a question which she replied from her heart... whether to contest an election or not is a matter of personal choice. It shows the level of internal democracy and openness with which the BJP operates.”

CPI (M) leader Brinda Karat criticised Sitharaman’s statement in a recorded video message posted by her party. “We are really very grateful to Nirmala-ji for making such a wonderful exposure. I don’t think any opposition leader could have made the kind of exposure that Nirmala-ji has made. First, when she says I don’t have the money to fight the election, one thing becomes clear — even for the Finance Minister, it is not the Modi guarantee but money that wins elections. Second thing... what about (money received in) electoral bonds? Where is that money going, Nirmala-ji?...”