Shashi Tharoor wins from Thiruvananthapuram with 16,077 margins

Rajeev Chandrasekhar is challenging Shashi Tharoor in Kerala's capital

Indian National Congress (INC) leader Shashi Tharoor won the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat for the fourth consecutive time by defeating Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajeev Chandrashekhar by a margin of 16,077 votes, according to the Election Commission data.

Tharoor got 358155 votes, whereas Chandrashekhar secured 342078 votes. This was followed by Pannian Raveendran securing 247648 votes.

As per latest Election Commission of India’s (ECI) data, Tharoor secured 4476 postal votes and 353679 EVM votes from Thiruvananthapuram. The percent of vote share was 37.19 percent.

"It was a very tight fight till the very end. I must congratulate both Rajeev Chandrashekar and Pannian Ravindran on having fought such a good battle and having improved their parties' performance so strongly here. I am glad that in the end, the voters of Thiruvananthapuram once again decided to repose their faith in me which they have done in three previous elections,” Tharoor told PTI news agency on June 4.

He further added that I will obviously look forward to fulfilling their trust and working very hard for this constituency.

Tharoor has been wining Thiruvananthapuram seat since 2009, and made hat trick in 2019 by a margin of 99,989 votes.

In 2019, Tharoor secured 416131 votes. Whereas, BJP’s Kummanam Rajasekharan was the runner-up who secured 316142 votes.

In the affidavit filed by the Tharoor to ECI on April 5 has declared assets of over Rs 55 crore in his nomination papers. He also declared a total income of over Rs 4.32 crore in the financial year 2022-2023.

Giving details of his assets and liabilities in the affidavit filed along with his nomination papers, Tharoor said he has immovable assets of over Rs 49 crore that includes deposits of varying amounts in 19 bank accounts and investments in various bonds, debentures, mutual funds, among others, he has said in his affidavit.

His movable assets also include 534 grams of gold worth Rs 32 lakh and Rs 36,000 as cash in hand, according to his affidavit. His movable assets also include 534 grams of gold worth Rs 32 lakh and Rs 36,000 as cash in hand, according to his affidavit.

In April, BJP Rajeev Chandrasekhar, has sent a legal notice to Congress MP Shashi Tharoor for defamation. In his notice, Chandrasekhar accused Tharoor of disseminating patently false information among the constituents of Thiruvananthapuram.

The notice states that the comments by Tharoor were made with an aim to harm Chandrasekhar's reputation and image and that his remarks also disrespected the entire Christian community of Thiruvananthapuram and its leaders by accusing them of engaging in cash-for-votes activities. Furthermore, it also contends that Tharoor's statements were in violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).

Trend at 2:00 PM: Indian National Congress (INC) leader Shashi Tharoor again took a lead in Thiruvananthapuram, with 3061 votes at 2:00 PM, according to the Election Commission of India's (ECI) data.

Tharoor has got 319909 votes and Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) candidate Rajeev Chandrashekhar have so far got 316848 votes.

Trend at 1:00 PM: The leading margin of BJP' candidate Chandrashekhar rose to 15228 votes, according to the ECI data.

At 1:00 PM, Chandrashekhar got 233362 votes, Indian National Congress' (INC) leader Shashi Tharoor got 218134 votes, and Pannian Ravindran got 161049 votes, as per ECI data.

Trend at 11:30 AM: Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) candidate Rajeev Chandrashekhar was leading from Thiruvananthapuram with 13,635 vote margins, as per ECI data.

Whereas, INC leader Shashi Tharoor was  trailing 13,635 votes, ECI data showed.

Trend at 9:30 AM: INC's leader Shashi Tharoor was leading from Thiruvananthapuram with 2873 vote margins, according to the ECI's data.

Whereas, Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) candidate Rajeev Chandrashekhar was trailing with 3265 votes.

Pannian Raveendran is also trailing from this constituency from Communist Party of India (Marxist)  with 2873 votes.

Kerala has been a Congress stronghold in the past Lok Sabha elections.

The 2024 Lok Sabha elections is crucial for both the Indian National Congress (INC) and the NDA in Kerala. With 20 Lok Sabha constituencies in contention, the state saw polling on April 26, achieving a voter turnout of 70.35%, down from 77.84% in 2019.

In the 2019 polls, the INC secured a majority of seats in the state, while the NDA failed to win a single one. There is a direct contest between the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) and the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) in the state. The NDA votes could play a crucial role in determining whether the UDF can replicate its 2019 performance.