New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has instructed its Rajya Sabha MPs, who are Cabinet Ministers, to be prepared to contest the next Lok Sabha elections in 2024. The party has told the MPs to find suitable seats from where they can contest the polls, sources told ABP News.
The BJP has also given a hint to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar that they may have to contest the polls. Currently, Sitharaman and Jaishankar are MPs from Karnataka and Gujarat respectively.
Notably, Nirmala Sitharaman is from Tamil Nadu - a state where the saffron party is hoping to expand its footprint in the next general election.
Here's the list of BJP MP's who are Cabinet Ministers:
- Nirmala Sitharaman - Finance, Corporate Affairs
- Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar - External Affairs
- Piyush Goyal - Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Textiles
- Dharmendra Pradhan - Education, Skill Development, Entrepreneurship
- Narayan Rane - Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises
- Sarbananda Sonowal - Ayush, Ports, Shipping, and Waterways
- Jyotiraditya Scindia - Civil Aviation, Steel
- Ashwini Vaishnaw - Railways, Communications, Electronics, and Information Technology
- Hardeep Singh Puri - Petroleum, Housing and Urban Affairs
- Mansukh Mandaviya - Health and Family Welfare, Chemicals and Fertilizers
- Bhupender Yadav - Environment and Labour
- Parshottam Rupala - Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairying
However, the final decision of whether to contest the elections and from which constituency to contest lies with the party leadership.