THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : Shashi Tharoor was on his first visit to the constituency after his candidature was announced for the 2024 general elections. He had just arrived at the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport. But there was none to receive him, except a few TV journalists and camera crews. Not a single Congress worker was around. No banners or placards to welcome him.
But then, Tharoor wouldn’t have bothered much about it. For, he had won Thiruvannathapuram three times before on his own merit and charisma.
The local Congress leadership had always cold-shouldered this diplomat-turned-politician.
In fact, Tharoor had to complain to the national leadership to get the party machinery running. Yet, he managed to win – even when he was under a cloud of suspicion after the death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar during the 2014 Lok Sabha election.
Over time, Tharoor created a niche vote bank for himself. The majority of voters in Thiruvananthapuram were proud to have a ‘global citizen’ representing the constituency. It is the same affinity for ‘VIPs’ that saw Kerala’s state capital elect the likes of V K Krishna Menon, K Karunakaran and M N Govindan Nair to Parliament earlier. In Thiruvananthapuram, personalities matter as much as – perhaps even more than – politics.
But this time, Tharoor has an equally high-profile opponent: Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT. If Tharoor is a prolific writer and orator, Chandrasekhar is a successful techie and an entrepreneur. If Tharoor has the gift of the gab, Chandrasekhar is known as a man of action. If Tharoor appears debonair, Chandrasekhar exudes the air of someone who means business.
Tharoor and Chandrasekhar are primarily vying for the same vote bank as well – the upper class, the upper caste, the youth and the aspirational middle class. This vote bank is crucial in Thiruvananthapuram – unlike elsewhere in Kerala – as it has 72% urban voters.
Politics of Kerala likely to change forever if lotus blooms in capital
Add to that the not-so-impressive track record of Tharoor as an MP in the past 15 years. His excuse that he has "limitations" as an opposition MP” has only done further damage in the ‘Modi ki guarantee’ context.
Needless to say, Chandrasekhar makes it a point to tell all his interviewers that he has no time to peruse dictionaries as he believes in “politics of performance”.
Tharoor, aware of the shift in his urban vote bank, is now trying hard to retain votes in rural and coastal belts. In 2014, when the BJP’s O Rajagopal had a clear surge in all the city segments, it was the rural belt – comprising mostly Latin Christians, Nadar community and Muslims – that had bolstered Tharoor.
Chandrasekhar and his team are working meticulously to make inroads into these vote banks. But the chink in his armour is that the local BJP cadre are not very active on ground. This could cost him dearly.
As these two jet-setting politicians are fighting it out, Pannian Raveendran, the CPI candidate, with his upright and commoner image, is charting a totally different course of action. Raveendran, who had won Thiruvananthapuram in a 2005 by-election with a record margin of 51% votes, is focusing on keeping the traditional vote bank of Left intact. The LDF had won five of the six constituencies in the district in the 2021 Assembly elections.
Pannian, one of the last few old-school communists (daal-vada and black tea type) remaining, is still able to strike an instant connect with the working class. The recent mistrust of the Muslim community towards Tharoor after his comments on the Palestine issue and Ram Temple is also said to be working in favour of Raveendran. However, the rumour that the CPM may ‘transfer’ its votes to Tharoor in case Chandrasekhar has a winning chance is certainly threatening his prospects.
If the Lotus blooms in Sri Padmanabhan’s soil, the politics of the state will change forever.
