Former Keralam chief secretary Jiji Thomson said on Saturday, September 26, that Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar had suggested he contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Pathanamthitta on a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket.
Speaking to The Hindu, Thomson said the conversation took place on a Delhi flight in 2015-16. “It was not an offer but a friendly suggestion. I was serving as the Chief Secretary of Keralam and was nearing the end of my career when, on a flight to Delhi, Kumar asked about my retirement plans. I said I had no such plans whatsoever. It was at this point that he suggested I could contest from the Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha constituency for the BJP.”
He added that Kumar called him a ‘good speaker’ and belonged to a minority community, and it was when the BJP was looking for Christian candidates in Kerala, ‘but I said I am not too ambitious.'”
Responding to speculations over him landing a senior government posting if the UDF returned to power in the state, he said, “But my priority has always been to focus on Bhaavika, a charitable organisation which runs a student enrichment programme absolutely free of cost.”
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