BJP minister Yashodhara Raje Scindia unwilling to contest MP Assembly polls due to poor health

Madhya Pradesh minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yashodhara Raje Scindia has expressed unwillingness to contest the upcoming Assembly polls in the state citing health reasons, sources close to her said on Friday.

Scindia, MLA from Shivpuri since 2013, had told the party leadership a month ago that she didn't want to contest polls as she had contracted Covid-19 four times, these sources told PTI.

She had told the BJP leadership she was unable to tour the area exhaustively as was required during a poll campaign and also to remain connected with people in her constituency due to health reasons, the sources added.

Scindia needs at least six months to recover from the ailment and needs rest to tide over exhaustion, they said.

Scindia, as state sports and youth welfare minister, had shuttled between stadiums, roped in foreign coaches and devoted herself to the ministry at the cost of her health, they said, adding that MP sportspersons had won a record number of medals in the international arena under her ministership.

They said a survey showed Shivpuri was the only seat in the division which the BJP would win by a margin of more than 50,000 votes and debunked speculation that she was opting out as the going may get tough in the upcoming polls.

Incidentally, her name as well as that of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan does not figure in the list of 79 candidates announced by the BJP so far for the polls to the 230-member Assembly, likely to be held at the end of the year.

The list includes three Union ministers, some Lok Sabha MPs as well as party general secretary and Indore strongman Kailash Vijayvargiyya.