Former Union Minister and BJP leader Harsh Vardhan announced that he is quitting from politics, a day after the BJP published its first list of Lok Sabha poll candidates omitting his name.
Former Union Minister and sitting BJP MP Harsh Vardhan announced his decision to quit politics on Sunday. It came a day after the BJP released its first list of Lok Sabha election candidates, which did not include his name.
In a detailed post announcing his decision, Vardhan recalled his achievements in his “over thirty years of a glorious electoral career” and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the party workers.
“After over thirty years of a glorious electoral career, during which I won all the five assembly and two parliamentary elections that I fought with exemplary margins, and held a multitude of prestigious positions in the party organisation and the governments at the state and centre, I finally bow out to return to my roots,” Harsh Vardhan, the former Union Health Minister said.
The 69-year-old leader said he will be returning to the medical profession.
“I move on, I really can’t wait. I have promises to keep .. and miles to go before I sleep !! I have a dream .. and I know your blessings shall always remain with me . My ENT clinic at Krishna Nagar too awaits my return,” he tweeted.
In its first list of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP on Saturday announced a major rejig in Delhi by dropping four sitting MPs — Parvesh Verma, Ramesh Bidhuri, Meenakshi Lekhi, and Harsh Vardhan. The party chose new faces from their constituencies.
The former Union Minister recollected that it was at the insistence of the then RSS leadership that he “jumped into the electoral fray”.
“They could convince me only because for me politics meant opportunity to fight our three main enemies – poverty, disease and ignorance,” he said.
Noting his achievements during his political journey, Vardhan said, “I served as Delhi Health Minister as well as twice Union Health Minister, a subject close to my heart. I had the rare opportunity bestowed upon me to be able to first work towards creating a Polio free Bharat and then to take care of the health of millions of our countrymen grappling with the dreaded COVID-19 during its first and second phases.”
The BJP, in its first list, replaced 33 sitting MPs across various seats with new faces.
Article source: indiatoday.in
