Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines Pralhad Joshi on Tuesday hinted that Nirmala Sitharaman and S Jaishankar may contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Sitharaman and Jaishankar are two of the most eloquent Ministers of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Cabinet. Presently, Sitharaman is a Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka, and Jaishankar  from Gujarat. However, it has not been decided yet as to where they will contest from, he added.

“More or less it is final that they (Sitharaman and Jaishankar) will contest the Lok Sabha elections. It has not been decided yet from where they will fight, whether it is in Karnataka or some other state,” Joshi, who holds the Coal and Mines portfolio, said.

When questioned if the Union Ministers will contest from Bengaluru, Joshi said he cannot answer it since nothing has been finalised yet.

Sitharaman joined the BJP in 2008 and served as the national spokesperson of the party till 2014. She became a junior Minister after Modi became the Prime Minister of the country.

The same year she became a member of the Rajya Sabha from Andhra Pradesh. Sitharaman has served as the Defence Minister of the country between 2017 and 2019.

Jaishankar is a career diplomat. In 2015, he served as the Foreign Secretary. In 2019, he was inducted into Modi’s Cabinet. He was also nominated to the Rajya Sabha. Over the years, he has attained popularity on social media due to his staunch defense of the Indian foreign policy on international forums.On Saturday, the BJP held the core group meeting of five States at the party headquarters in New Delhi. The meeting was led by BJP National President JP Nadda, in the presence of Home Minister, Amit Shah and Organisation General Secretary, BL Santosh.

The meeting was held in phases, which saw discussion for the preparations of Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan.