BackMP election: 'Unhappy' Kailash Vijayvargiya says 'no wish' to contest polls, 'hum bade neta ho gaye hain'
'I didn't have even 1% wish to contest elections. I had only planned to attend public meetings...I still can't believe I have been given a ticket,' the BJP veteran said.
PremiumSenior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kailash Vijayvargiya said he had "no wish" to contest in the upcoming assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, but will be filing his candidature from Indore-1 seat as decided by the party's leadership.
“I didn't have even 1% wish to contest elections. I had only planned to attend public meetings...I still can't believe I have been given a ticket," Vijayvargiya said, while addressing a party event in the poll-bound state on September 26.
“I had no desire to contest…There is a mindset which is needed to contest. Hum bade neta ho gaye hai (I am a senior leader now). Will I now ask for votes with folded hands? I had thought I will give speeches and leave," he added.
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Later, Vijayvargiya told news agency ANI that he was told by the BJP that he “shouldn't refuse" the work that the party is entrusting him with.
“Although I had said that I do not want to contest in the elections, but senior leaders of the party gave me some directions the day before yesterday. I was in a conundrum and after the announcement was made, I was left surprised. I am privileged that I got the opportunity to participate in electoral politics and I will try to fulfil the party’s expectations," he said.
Notably, the BJP has so far named eight central leaders, including three Union ministers and four MPs, for the high-stake electoral battle in Madhya Pradesh later this year.
The Union ministers who have been named include Narendra Singh Tomar, Prahlad Patel and Faggan Singh Kulaste, whereas, the four MPs are Rakesh Singh, Ganesh Singh, Reeti Pathak and Uday Pratap Singh.
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