Sushma Swaraj declares her ‘Sanyas’; won’t contest in 2019 General Elections

In a major blow to the prospects of BJP on the verge of assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, senior BJP leader and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj has declared that she wouldn't contest 2019 Lok Sabha election due to health issues.

Sources in BJP say that the Lok Sabha MP from Vidisha, the hometown of Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Sushma's decision is seen as step taken after her prolonged sidelining in the party. She was considered as the only Brahmin leader from the state and her announcement during election may upset this community at large.

All Brahmin unity organisation leader and former RSS supporter Sandesh Vyas admits that BJP’s policies regarding Brahmins has created resentment among this traditional voters of saffron party. He says Shivraj Singh Chauhan has been openly advocating reservation for SC and ST and playing the Dalit card for political gain. This has upset Brahmins in the state. That is the primary reason an organisations like SAPAKS (Samanya Pichhda Alpsankhayak Kalyan Samaj) got an overwhelming response.

Sarva Brahmin Mahasangh leader Jitendra Tripathi, who is campaigning for Congress candidates in the election says Sushma Swaraj was humiliated in the state and centre. She asked tickets for only two of her supporters Jitendra Daga from Bhopal and Gopi Krishna Nema from Indore, but party president Amit Shah threw her request in the dustbin. She was upset after the denial of tickets to two of her nominees.

Her timing of announcement of retiring from electoral politics may send wrong message to the Brahmin community.

State Press club president Praveen khariwal has a different aspect about this development. He says that Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, an MP from Indore, is another senior BJP leader and is also a Brahmin. She wanted her son Mandar mahajan to be declared candidate for one of the seat from Indore but Amit Shah preferred Kailash vijayvargiya's son Akash over Mahajan's. Now she wants to contest 2019 election because her health is better, but now that Swaraj has made her decision public in Indore, this will put pressure on Sumitra Mahajan to accept age limit bar in BJP for contesting elections.