Priya Dutt will not contest 2019 Lok Sabha polls

Ending speculations over her future political move months after she was 'relieved' as an AICC secretary, high-profile former Congress MP Priya Dutt Monday announced that she would not contest the 2019 elections and spend more time with her family.

In a statement, the former Congress MP said she had shared her decision to take a break from active politics with Congress president Rahul Gandhi a couple of months ago.

The Congress leader also said that she was committed to work for the party and its candidate, but "would not support anyone against her conscience".

"I will not be contesting the 2019 General Election. Politics needs a particular mind-set that I do not have. However, I have great respect for those who do," she stated.

In 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Dutt was defeated by BJP's Poonam Mahajan from the Mumbai North Central seat.

Dutt, daughter of actor-turned-politician late Sunil Dutt, stated that she had decided in 2005, when she entered politics, that she would "step ..