Former BJP President Murli Manohar Joshi has revealed that he had been asked by his party not to contest the Lok Sabha election.
Joshi made the announcement in an open letter for voters in Kanpur, from where he was elected to the Lok Sabha in 2014.
Joshi’s message on Monday, addressed to his constituency, read: “Dear people of Kanpur, General Secretary of the BJP Ram Lal conveyed to me today that I should not contest the ensuing parliamentary election from Kanpur and anywhere.”
Joshi had earlier vacated Varanasi seat, which he had won in 2009, for Prime Minister Modi in 2014.
Earlier, the BJP had denied a ticket to veteran LK Advani and replaced him with party President Amit Shah in the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat in Gujarat.
