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Shashi Tharoor poised for a hat-trick in Thiruvananthapuram

In the midst of a crammed campaign schedule, Shashi Tharoor flashes the Thumbs up sign when asked whether voters in Thiruvananthapuram favour him this time around as well.

Tharoor has been Thiruvananthapuram MP for ten years. He is seeking re-election for the third time.

As he is received by a group of frenzied Congress workers with the accompaniment of 'chenda melam' - traditional percussion instrument, at an auditorium in Peroorkada on Saturday evening, Shashi Tharoor expresses his inability for an interview as he is running short of time.

In fact he arrived for an election convention scheduled for 5 pm at 7 pm and saw to it that the speeches were brief before he rushed off to the next venue.

The impression one gets after a visit to the constituency is that if Tharoor wins Thiruvananthapuram seat one needn't be surprised. But giving a stiff fight to him is the BJP candidate Kummanam Rajasekharan. It looks like, at this stage of electioneering, that the ruling LDF candidate, C.Divakaran (CPI) would really have to sweat it out.

The voters of Vattiyoorkavu assembly constituency in Thiruvananthapuram largely favour Kummanam who quit as Mizoram governor to contest election.

But Suresh, a security guard, told Mirror that he is sure that Tharoor will win this time as well.

However, S.Madhu an NRI and owner of the auditorium the venue of Shashi Tharoor's election convention begged to differ. He said the BJP cadres are quite energetic and willing to work for the party without expecting any rewards from the party, unlike the cadres of left parties and the Congress. Ironically, Madhu a member of the Congress party is the founder of a NRI party named 'Pravasi Nivasi Party'. Though the party has fielded a candidate in Thiruvananthapuram, Madhu wants Modi to become prime minister for the second time.

An auto driver told Mirror that segments like Kovalam and Neyyatinkara, with sizeable number of minority voters, will come to the rescue of Tharoor.

"Divakaran is arrogant and inaccessible to the voters," claims Suresh.

While addressing the convention, Tharoor explains: "Divakaran calls me an outsider. He says he has lived in Thiruvananthapuram for 40 years. But the duty of an MP is to go to Delhi and fulfill the needs of the constituency
Divakaran doesn't have that capability."

Tharoor, who also effectively uses social media to connect with the voters, then went on to expose BJP's lies on the Sabarimala women's entry issue; that it was only BJP which protects the tradtition of Hindu faith.

"The BJP only helped turn the sacred pilgrim centre into a political theatre. Neither did it file a review petition against the Supreme Court order allowing menstruating women to enter Sabarimala temple nor bring a new law to sidestep the order," he said.

But there are voters in parts of Thiruvananthapuram who ask, "what has Tharoor actually done for the constituency?"

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