Left front's campaign in Thiruvananthapuram targets me, not BJP: Shashi Tharoor

Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha Congress candidate Shashi Tharoor

Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha Congress candidate Shashi Tharoor has accused the Left front of targeting him instead of the BJP.

Diplomat-turned-politician and three-time MP Shashi Tharoor is in a heated contest against Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, and senior CPI leader and former MP, Pannyan Raveendran.

"Most of my campaign is directed against the BJP candidate. I have been relatively soft in my criticism of the Left. But to my surprise, the Left has directed almost all their campaign rhetoric against me. I'm not here to pay attention to their unjustified attacks on me. It's disappointing that they have taken that approach," Tharoor told Moneycontrol.

He further said: "It is concerning and surprising that the Left campaign in Thiruvananthapuram has been entirely directed against me, with no mention of the BJP, whom we are trying to unseat in Delhi. This is a Lok Sabha election, not a state assembly election where the Congress and LDF are at daggers drawn. We could have both targeted the party (BJP) that came second in both the last two elections, which happens to be ruling the country at the Centre.".

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Asked about the Left parties and Congress being part of the INDIA alliance but contesting separately in states like Kerala, Tharoor remarked,
"The truth is that while the INDIA alliance works at the national level, it was always understood that in practice, it would be implemented on a state-by-state basis. If you look objectively, this is not the only example where parties that are allies in one state may not be allies in another. In Kerala, for instance, the LDF and UDF have opposed each other for 55 years, alternating in power until the last election."

"The prospect of us being allied in Kerala is almost laughable. However, right next door in Tamil Nadu, CPI, CPM, the Indian Union Muslim League, and the Congress, are all aligned with each other and with the DMK, with no disputes over seat sharing or coordinated efforts. Similarly, between Delhi and Punjab, the Aam Aadmi Party aligns with us in Delhi but fights separately in Punjab. Each of our states has its political character and history, and state realities are part of national elections. Voters may vote differently between state and national elections, but parties have certain ideological constructs" he adds.

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