Murli Manohar Joshi asked by BJP to not contest Lok Sabha Polls

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Murli Manohar Joshi on Tuesday said that he has been told not to contest the upcoming General elections.

In a letter to the people of Kanpur, Joshi said: "Dear people of Kanpur, General Secretary of the BJP Ramlal conveyed to me today that I should not contest the ensuing parliamentary election from Kanpur and elsewhere."

MM Joshi is at present a member of Parliament from the Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh. Joshi, 85, had left his Varanasi seat for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He then won the 2014 elections from Kanpur.

Along with LK Advani, Joshi's name is also missing from the list of 40 star campaigners for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, reported news agency ANI.

This news comes after the party decided to not field LK Advani from the Gandhinagar seat for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Instead, BJP announced the candidature of Amit Shah from Gandhinagar. Ninety-one-year-old Advani has won the Gandhinagar seat six times.

The BJP has also not given tickets to likes of B C Khanduri, Kariya Munda, Kalraj Mishra, Bijoya Chakravarty - all many term MPs and over 80 years of age - besides Advani (91).

with IANS and PTI inputs.