Fight is between Cong and BJP, says Thiruvananthapuram MP Tharoor

Thiruvananthapuram: Sitting Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha MP and Congress leader, Shashi Tharoor, on Wednesday said the poll battle in his constituency was between the Congress and the BJP.

MP Shashi Tharoor is taking on Union Minister of State, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, of the BJP and CPI veteran, P Ravindran.

“Even though generally it might be said that the battle in Thiruvananthapuram is a triangular contest, in reality it’s not and the fight is between the Congress and the BJP,” said senior Congress leader Tharoor, who is aiming for a fourth straight win in the upcountry Lok Sabha seat.

“Things here remain the same as in the previous two Lok Sabha elections,” added Tharoor.

Incidentally, Tharoor won his debut election in 2009 by defeating CPI leader, P Ramachandran Nair, by a margin of 99,998 votes.

In that election the BJP candidate finished fourth and secured 84,094 votes.

In the 2015 polls, Tharoor saw his margin dwindling heavily but defeated BJP veteran and former Union Minister, O Rajagopal, by 15,470 votes.

However, in the 2019 polls, Tharoor increased his margin to 99,989 votes and the BJP candidate finished second.

Tharoor on Wednesday filed his nomination, while Chandrasekhar will be filing his on Thursday and P Ravindran filed it on Tuesday.