Sushma Swaraj says she won't contest next Lok Sabha polls

Sushma in Jabalpur External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj campaigning in Jabalpur | PTI

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday announced she would not be contesting the next Lok Sabha elections, due by May 2019.

Swaraj made the statement while talking to mediapersons in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Noting that while the final decision on contesting elections was with the BJP, Swaraj said she had “made up her mind”. Swaraj cited her poor health as a being a factor behind her decision.

Swaraj was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1996 and held various positions in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee governments of the late 1990s in addition to briefly serving as chief minister of Delhi.

Swaraj attracted considerable media attention as an effective leader of opposition in the second UPA government. Though considered an “acolyte” of L.K. Advani, Swaraj was given the position of external affairs minister by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Swaraj had made a mark in the ministry of external affairs with her timely responses to appeals for help on social media. In 2016, Swaraj underwent a kidney transplant and reduced her public engagements.