Union Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday announced that she will not be contesting the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Reports said the parliamentarian from Madhya Pradesh’s Vidisha cited health reasons for her decision.
“It is the party which decides, but I have made up my mind not to contest next elections,” Swaraj told reporters in Indore. Swaraj said she has conveyed her decision to the party leadership.
The 66-year-old had a kidney transplant in December 2016. Swaraj has been elected to Parliament seven times and has previously been a Cabinet minister in Haryana. She has also served as the Union Minister of Health and Welfare, Telecommunications and Information and Broadcasting, and was the first woman chief minister of Delhi, in 1998.
Lok Sabha elections are likely to be held in the summer of 2019, while Madhya Pradesh elections will be held on November 28 and its results will be out December 11.
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