Candidacy from New Delhi seat responsibility not reward: BJP's Bansuri Swaraj

Candidacy from New Delhi seat responsibility not reward: BJP's Bansuri Swaraj

Bansuri Swaraj, the BJP's contender from the the New Delhi Lok Sabha seat, has said her candidacy is a responsibility, not a reward.

In an interaction with PTI editors at the agency's headquarters, Swaraj said she was most impressed by three political leaders -- her late mother Sushma Swaraj, former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The BJP's youngest candidate for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Bansuri said getting a ticket from the New Delhi seat was a ''coincidence'' and claimed that she received complete support from Meenakshi Lekhi, the two-time sitting MP and Union minister, who was dropped by the saffron party this time.

''In our party, tickets are not cut, tickets are given. It was a coincidence that I got this ticket. It is a responsibility, not a reward,'' Swaraj, the daughter of late Delhi chief minister and former external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, said.

''If the responsibility is given to someone else, you help and guide them. I received blessings and guidance from Lekhi ji within 72 hours of getting the ticket,'' she added.

Swaraj said ''PM Modi's vision for Bharat'' has struck a chord with her and she would try to emulate him in terms of his innovative thoughts for Bharat.

Raised in a family of politicians and lawyers, Swaraj, an Oxford-taught practising lawyer, expressed her desire to don both hats, adding that she intends to remain in litigation.

''As women, we are conditioned to be multitaskers. I would love to do both. I enjoy being a lawyer and I think politics is a beautiful extension of it. Because in litigation you sort of end up helping an individual or serving a family. Politics gives you the means to amplify that,'' she said.

Swaraj is one of the two women candidates fielded by the BJP in Delhi. The party is vying for a clean sweep on all seven seats in the national capital for the third time in a row.

The Aam Aadmi Party is fighting the New Delhi Lok Sabha seat as part of its seat-sharing deal with the Congress. It has fielded Somnath Bharti from the seat.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)