Bengaluru, India: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) picked the 28-year-old lawyer Tejasvi Surya as its candidate for Bangalore South Lok Sabha seat.

Tejaswini Ananth Kumar (left), Tejasvi Surya (right)

The BJP on Tuesday named its Karnataka Yuva Morcha General Secretary Tejasvi Surya as its South Bangalore Lok Sabha seat candidate, shattering late Union Minister Ananth Kumar’s supporters’ hopes of seeing his widow contest from the prestigious seat, reported PTI.

The party’s central election committee decided early in the day to field the 28-year-old Karnataka High Court lawyer over the party’s state unit’s recommendation, Tejaswini.

Speaking to ANI, Tejasvi said: “It is a mix of surprise and sense of gratitude. Have been an active karyakarta from days in ABVP; It is the only party that recognises the potential of karyakartas.”

Surya, who will be contesting from the seat that late BJP leader Ananth Kumar held earlier, added: “Tejaswini ji (wife of late Union minister Ananth Kumar) has given me her blessings, she has also instructed all the karyakartas who were anticipating her candidature that the party’s decision is the foremost decision and we all have to respect.

Earlier, the lawyer-turned-politician had expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah for choosing him.

The late Union Minister Ananth Kumar’s wife Tejaswini Ananth Kumar has urged supporters of her husband to abide by the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) decision.

BJP fielded 28-year-old Tejasvi Surya as its candidate from the seat despite the fact that the seat was represented by Ananth Kumar since 1996. He passed away on November 12, 2018, after battling with pancreatic cancer.

“It is shocking to all of my supporters and also to me. At the same time, I have been telling them and to myself that it is very important to show that we are a party with a difference. This is the time to show our maturity and to work for the country. Let’s not think of small things and our bigger goal is nation first,” Tejaswini told news agency ANI.

When the news agency asked Tejaswini about her supporters not being happy with the decision taken, she said: “I have convinced them. They will work for the party. We all want Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi again.”

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