Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said that she has declined the offer extended by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, saying that she “doesn’t have the kind of money”.

Sitharaman said that BJP president JP Nadda extended the option to her to either contest from Andhra Pradesh or Tamil Nadu, but she rejected the offer, pleading that she does not have the funds to contest the polls.

While speaking at the Times Now Summit 2024, the Finance Minister said, “After thinking over a week or ten days, I just went back to say… maybe not. I do not have that kind of money to contest.”

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“I also have a problem whether it is Andhra Pradesh or Tamil Nadu. It’s also going to be a question of various other winnability criteria that they use…Are you from this community or are you from that religion? Are you from this? I said no, I do not think I am going to able to do it,” she added.

Sitharaman added, “I am very grateful that they accepted my argument… So I am not contesting.” When asked as to how the Finance Minister of the country does not have enough funds to contest the Lok Sabha polls, she exclaimed saying, “My salary, my earnings, my savings are mine and not the Consolidated Fund of India… obviously I can’t.”

However, Sitharaman said that she will still be a part of BJP’s campaign trail for the upcoming elections. She will be attending media events and campaigning for multiple BJP candidates, including Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar.

Speculations regarding Sitharaman contesting the polls had started when Union Minister Pralhad Joshi had that she and S Jaishankar would contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections but the constituencies from where they would seek votes are yet to be decided.

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While Sitharaman won’t be contesting the polls this time, the BJP has fielded multiple existing Rajya Sabha candidates including Piyush Goyal, Bhupender Yadav, Rajiv Chandrasekhar, Mansukh Mandaviya, and Jyotiraditya Scindia.

Till now, BJP has released seven lists of candidates for the upcoming general elections, fielding party heavyweights like Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh in its initial lists. BJP’s surprise candidates like actress Kangana Ranaut and Sandeshkhali violence survivor Rekha Patra also made headlines the past week.

The polling for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections will be conducted in seven phases from April 19 to June 1. The counting will be done on June 4 after which the results will be declared.