External Affairs Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) senior leader Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday announced that she will not contest next year's Lok Sabha elections.
Speaking at a BJP press conference on Tuesday, Swaraj said that while it is the party that decides on such things, she, on her part, has made up her mind not to contest the 2019 general elections.
Swaraj, who has been a Member of Parliament for several years, has, in the past, also held the position of Delhi's Chief Minister from October 13 to December 3, 1998. In fact, she was Delhi's first woman chief minister.
She has also been Informational and Broadcasting Minister in the Centre, spokesperson of the BJP and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha. During the last two Lok Sabha polls in 2009 and 2014, Swaraj had contested and won from Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh.