THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Though he was confined to his residence and later Indira Bhavan, Shashi Tharoor who was reelected from here connected with his followers through the social media on the counting day.
The second-most followed Indian politician in the internet after Narendra Modi, Tharoor took to Twitter and Facebook to express his views as a closely contested battle between him and BJP candidate O Rajagopal took place.
At one stage, Rajagopal had seemed to run away with a win leading by 14,153 votes.
However, Tharoor made ground and took a slender lead and the outcome was hanging in the balance when he posted his first tweet of the day.
Tweeted at 11.45 am, it read: “I have worked hard and honestly for the people here for five years. They are the best judge of what they need from their MP”.
The tweet was met with mixed reactions by the Twitter community.
When the counting reached a halt with around five per cent of votes left to be counted, Tharoor came up with an explanation.
“Leading by 7,000 but process interrupted for counting of postal ballots. We just have to await the voters’ verdict. Not speaking till then,” he tweeted at 1.21 pm.
By the time, he posted his next tweet, the lead had further increased and the victory confirmed.
“Called my BJP rival O Rajagopal to compliment him on a tough race. Accepted his congratulations. Now the hard work of Opposition begins,” Tharoor tweeted acknowledging the tough race.