Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Friday announced that she does not want to contest the 2019 General Elections and appealed to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to name a candidate from Indore.

In a letter expressing her wish to not contest the polls, the MP from Indore questioned why a candidate has not been declared yet from the seat.

In a rather agitated tone, she said she has “freed the party” to make any decision.

“BJP has not declared its candidate from Indore. Why this state of indecision? Maybe the party is hesitating. Even though I had a discussion with the leadership and left the decision to them. It seems they still have reservations, so I declare that I will not contest Lok Sabha elections, so the party is free to decide, without any hesitation,” Sumitra Mahajan wrote in her letter.

As suspense continued over the BJP’s nominee from Indore constituency, Sumitra Mahajan had on Tuesday said she never sought poll ticket from the party in the last three decades.

On the delay in announcing her candidature, the eight-time MP from Indore had said that BJP leaders might be having “something” on their mind.

The BJP has not fielded many of its veterans, including former presidents LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, in the Lok Sabha elections. There was speculation that Sumitra Mahajan, who turns 76 on April 12, may also not be renominated.

Advani, 91, and Joshi, 85, were not renominated from their Lok Sabha seats, Gandhinagar and Kanpur, respectively.

Advani has been replaced with BJP chief Amit Shah.

The veteran parliamentarian had earlier said that she has not talked to any BJP leader and sought to know the reason for the delay in announcing the party nominee for Indore.

“Such question is not asked in our party because the nominations are decided by the organisation. The BJP organisation would take an appropriate decision on Indore at an appropriate time,” she had stated.

Indore Mayor and MLA Malini Gaud, another legislator Usha Thakur, BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, former MLA Bhanwar Singh Shekhawat and Indore Development Authority’s former chairman Shanker Lalwani are among the possible candidates from the constituency.

Polling for the seat is scheduled on May 19.