Rajeev Chandrasekhar Concedes Defeat Against Shashi Tharoor But BJP Looks Set To Win Maiden Kerala Seat

Crucial contests in Kerala 2024 include the one for Wayanad, where incumbent MP Rahul Gandhi has a lead of more than 3.6 lakh votes over CPI’s Annie Raja. 

Shashi Tharoor (L) and Rajeev Chandrasekhar. ( Image Source :PTI )

Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar conceded defeat on Tuesday, PTI reported, as three-term Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor looked set to retain the Kerala constituency. As of 4.30 pm, Tharoor had a victory margin of nearly 16,000 votes.

The race for Thiruvananthapuram looked tight through the day, with Chandrasekhar, a debutant candidate in the Lok Sabha Elections 2024, often taking the lead as the votes were counted. At one point, Tharoor was trailing him by nearly 23,000 votes. Chandrasekhar has earlier served three terms in the Rajya Sabha.

Overall, early-evening trends for Kerala’s 20 Lok Sabha seats showed the Congress leading in 14 seats, and the Indian Union Muslim League in two. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) was leading in one seat, with the BJP looking set to win its first-ever Lok Sabha constituency in the state. In Thrissur, actor-politician Suresh Gopi of the BJP is ahead with a margin of nearly 75,000 votes, as of 4.30 pm. 

A win in Kerala will be crucial for the BJP as it looks to widen its reach in south India.

Crucial contests in Kerala 2024 include the one for Wayanad, where incumbent MP Rahul Gandhi, as of 4.30 pm, has a lead of more than 3.6 lakh votes over CPI’s Annie Raja. Kerala BJP chief K. Surendran is a distant third.

While the Congress and the Left Front are both I.N.D.I.A bloc allies, they contested against each other in Kerala.

In Pathanamthitta, ground zero of the Sabarimala controversy, incumbent MP Anto Antony has a lead of nearly 61,000 votes over former Kerala finance minister T.M. Thomas Issac of the CPM. The BJP’s Anil K. Antony – the son of Congress leader and former Union minister A.K. Antony – is third. 

Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal has a comfortable lead of nearly 63,000 votes in Alappuzha over the CPM’s A.M. Ariff. The BJP’s Sobha Surendran is third.

Meanwhile, Union minister V. Muraleedharan is trailing third in Attingal. Adoor Prakash of the Congress is leading, with V. Joy of the CPM just over 1,000 votes behind. 

Former Kerala health minister K.K. Shailaja Teacher of the CPM is in the second position in Vadakara, trailing behind Shafi Parambil of the Congress by nearly 1.2 lakh votes.