Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha Result: Rajeev Chandrasekhar Concedes Defeat to Tharoor by 16,077 Votes

Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha Election Result 2024: Union Minister and BJP candidate Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Tuesday conceded defeat to Congress's three-time MP Shashi Tharoor in the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency, but said that the election result in Kerala indicates that people are increasingly supporting the Bharatiya Janata Party. Chandrasekhar, who is the Union Minister of State for Information Technology in the outgoing cabinet, said that the saffron party fought a very strong battle in Kerala. 

Vote counting for the Thiruvananthapuram (formerly known as Trivandrum) Lok Sabha seat on June 4 began at 8 AM. While all 20 seats of Kerala were being closely monitored, Thiruvananthapuram was in the spotlight as Union Minister and BJP Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar, in his first Lok Sabha electoral battle, was pitted against three-term Lok Sabha MP and Congress leader Shashi Tharoor. The constituency is one of the highly discussed Parliamentary seats across the country for the battle it has produced over the period of the last 2-3 months. The voting for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in Thiruvananthapuram took place on April 26 in the second phase, with as many as 12 candidates in fray for the Lok Sabha from the constituency, including CPI candidate Pannyan Raveendran.

Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha Election Result 2024: Updates

Rajeev Chandrasekhar Lost The Seat by 16,077 Votes

Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar lost the Lok Sabha battle to Congress’s Shashi Tharoor after a neck to neck fight during the counting by a margin of 16,077 votes. The BJP leader, who was initially leading in the constituency, went trailing behind Tharoor and ultimately lost the contest. While Shashi Tharoor got 3,58,155 votes, Rajeev Chandrasekhar managed to get 3,42,078 votes. 

Shashi Tharoor Wins

Congress Veteran Shashi Tharoor wins the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat for fourth consecutive time. He was won the seat after going through a neck-to-neck contest with Union Minister and BJP candidate Rajeev Chandrasekhar.

Shashi Tharoor's Lead Margin Increases

Sitting MP Shashi Tharoor takes the lead margin to 15974 votes against BJP's Rajeev Chandrasekhar. 

Tharoor Takes Lead by Over 3000 votes

After trailing behind, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has taken a lead by over 3000 votes in his bastion, Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat. As per the latest trends by the Election Commission of India, Tharoor has taken a lead by a margin of 3061 votes against BJP candidate and Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar. 

After Trailing Behind, Shashi Tharoor Takes a Lead

Tough battle is being witnessed in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency, where BJP’s Rajeev Chandrasekhar and Congress’s Shashi Tharoor are appearing to be in a neck to neck contest. Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, after leading the battle initially, is now trailing behind sitting MP Shashi Tharoor from the seat by a margin of 925 votes.

Union Minister Leading By 17772 Votes

Rajeev Chandrasekhar is leading from the seat by 17772 votes from the constituency and trailing behind is Shashi Tharoor, followed by the Communist Party of India (CPI) candidate, Pannian Ravindran.

Chandrasekhar is leading from constituency

In Thiruvananthapuram, leaving all speculations behind, Union Minister and BJP candidate Rajeev Chandrasekhar is leading from the constituency in Kerala, while three-time Lok Sabha MP from the seat Shashi Tharoor is trailing from his bastion. 

Counting of votes began at 8 AM

Thiruvananthapuram, A Congress Stronghold Since 2009

Once a Communist Party camp, this seat has been a Congress bastion since the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. Thiruvananthapuram is the most populous city in Kerala and has seen representation from various parties over the decades, showcasing the shifting political landscape of the state.

Traditionally, the political battle in Kerala has been majorly between the Congress and the CPI(M), but, recently, due to increased efforts from the BJP with Chandrasekhar in the fray, the party is seeking to make a breakthrough in the constituency. Interestingly, the exit poll results project a potential shift in the political dynamics in the constituency, with BJP’s Chandrasekhar gaining momentum against Shashi Tharoor. 

Tharoor retained the Thiruvananthapuram seat, in 2019 Lok Sabha elections, defeating the saffron party’s Kummanam Rajasekharan. While Tharoor secured 4,16,131 votes, the BJP candidate secured 3,16,142 votes. With the 2019 victory, Tharoor managed to retain the seat for the third consecutive term.

In 2014, Shashi Tharoor had defeated BJP candidate O Rajagopal and CPI’s Bennet Abraham. While in 2009, Congress candidate Shashi Tharoor, in his debut Lok Sabha electoral contest,    defeated CPI candidate P Ramachandran Nair and BSP candidate A Neelalohithadasan Nadar.

Thiruvananthapuram is a critical seat as the three-time MP Shashi Tharoor seeks to retain his stronghold for the Congress, whereas the BJP is looking forward to creating inroads in the southern state.