Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said "I don't have money to contest Lok Sabha elections"

Nirmala Sitharaman said that "she declined the BJP's offer to contest elections pleading that she did not have that 'kind of fund' required to contest the Lok Sabha polls."

She also tell that BJP President JP Nadda gave her the option to contest either from Andhra Pradesh or Tamil Nadu.

Nirmala Sitharaman said that“After thinking over a week or ten days, I just went back to say that I do not have that kind of money to contest. I also have a problem whether it is Andhra Pradesh or Tamil Nadu. It is also going to be a question of various other winnability criteria that they were 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. I am very grateful that they accepted my argument...So I am not contesting."