Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Can Rajeev Chandrasekhar beat 3-time winner Shashi Tharoor in Thiruvananthapuram?

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2009 Lok Sabha elections: Thiruvananthapuram saw a three-cornered contest between Congress' Shashi Tharoor, who was contesting for the first time from the seat, CPI's P Ramachandran Nair, BSP's A Neelalohithadasan Nadar. Shashi Tharoor won the seat with 326,725 (44.29 per cent votes) defeating CPI's P Ramachandran Nair with a margin of 99,998 votes. The CPI candidate won 226,727 (30.74 per cent votes).

The BJP was far behind winning 84,094 votes. 2014 Lok Sabha elections: As India rallied behind Narendra Modi's “abki baar Modi sarkaar", BJP, too, advanced two steps on the Thiruvananthapuram seat, narrowing the gap in the race with Shashi Tharoor. The BJP increased its vote share by 20.92 per cent from the 2009 elections as Shashi Tharoor's vote share dropped by 10.20 per cent.

In a tight race, Shashi Tharoor won 297,806 votes in 2014 elections, BJP's seasoned O Rajagopal won 2,82,336 votes. The margin of votes was only 15,470. 2019 Lok Sabha elections: Shashi Tharoor was yet again enthroned on the Thiruvananthapuram seat with a larger vote margin of 99,989.

BJP's Kummanam Rajasekharan was pitted against Shashi Tharoor. The saffron party's total vote share decreased by 1.02 per cent, while Congress' increased by 7.10 per cent. "It's not a surprise that they have turned out to be a strong player.

The Communist campaign has been lacklustre...whereas the BJP has moved into the second position in this constituency," Shashi Tharoor has said. In Lok Sabha elections 2024, Shashi Tharoor is looking to retain the support of his loyal base. While the BJP, buoyed by its performance over the years, is eyeing to wrest power from the Congress, placing all its hopes on Rajeev Chandrasekhar who has never contested the Lok Sabha elections