THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a nail-biting turn of events, Shashi Tharoor has emerged victorious for the fourth consecutive term in the Lok Sabha elections from Thiruvananthapuram. His victory came after a day filled with dramatic twists during the counting of votes. The day began with a surprising lead by BJP candidate Rajeev Chandrashekar who maintained a steady margin for the first several hours of the count.
He widened his margin up to 23000 against Tharoor at one point of time. However, the tide began to turn as counting progressed Tharoor- who was trailing behind Rajeev Chandrashekar - started to close the gap by making significant inroads in the rural and suburban polling booths. By evening Shashi Tharoor was ahead by 16000 votes claiming his victory.
Tharoor expressed deep gratitude for the voters of Thiruvananthapuram for giving him a fourth term. “I would like to congratulate my two rivals Rajeev Chandrashekar and Panniyan Ravindran for giving me a stiff fight. It was a close contest in the end and the voters of Thiruvananthapuram have reposed their trust in me once again and I look forward to fulfilling that trust and serving them with dedication in the years to come,” he said while speaking to the media after the victory.
After nearly two-months long high-voltage campaign, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrashekar managed to garner the support of around 3.7 lakh voters in the Thiruvananthapuram constituency. However, Tharoor - who was trailing behind Rajeev Chandrashekar- started to close the gap as counting progressed by making significant inroads in the rural and suburban polling booths.
“I am deeply grateful to all the voters of Thiruvananthapuram, the NDA and BJP and the many party workers for your warmth, affection and support over the campaign of the last 51 days. The trust you have shown in me and my vision for our capital gives me confidence,” said Rajeev Chandrashekar in his official social media handle.
In 2014, Shashi Tharoor came out victorious in a similar way against BJP’s O Rajagopal with a margin of around 16000 votes. In 2019 he made a thumping victory by defeating BJPs K Rajasekharan by nearly one lakh votes.