Signalling the end of their legislative careers, two veteran BJP woman stalwarts -- Sushma Swaraj and Sumitra Mahajan -- have now indicated that they won’t be a part of active politics.
Former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who represented Vidisha constituency from Madhya Pradesh in the 16th Lok Sabha applied for the ex-Parliament Identity card on Tuesday. The Lok Sabha secretariat confirmed to Hindustan Times that her application had been received and would be processed soon.
“The member needs to surrender their existing card, and file an application along with three passport size photos,” said an official in the secretariat. Swaraj has spent three decades as a Member of Parliament and has also served as the Chief Minister of Delhi for a short stint in 1998. Due to her prevailing health conditions, she had announced last year that she won’t be contesting 2019 Lok Sabha elections, although clarifying that she isn’t retiring from politics.
The former Lok Sabha speaker and an eight time Parliamentarian, Sumitra Mahajan applied for the identity card on Monday after she approached the Parliamentary Notice Office. Her application was approved yesterday when Om Birla’s name was doing the rounds to be the successor of Mahajan as the 17th Lok Sabha Speaker.
After meeting and bidding farewell to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJPs’ new Working President JP Nadda, she tweeted, “You gave me the opportunity to be Lok Sabha speaker. Thank you, Prime Minister Modi.’’
Mahajan had expressed her disappointment in April, questioning the delay of the announcement regarding Indore candidature. She later declared she would not contest the general polls.
