'Accepting result in Thiruvananthapuram, decisive victory in Thrissur'

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Union Minister and NDA candidate Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that he faced tough competition in Thiruvananthapuram. Shashi Tharoor is now leading in the Lok Sabha Thiruvananthapuram constituency as the counting of votes is about to enter the final stage. Tharoor is leading by around 15,000 votes. Later, Rajeev Chandrasekhar spoke to the media, stating that he humbly accepts the people's verdict.

"A positive campaign was conducted to increase the vote share. It was a decisive victory in Thrissur. We are happy about Suresh Gopi's victory. At the national level, there was not the victory we expected. We will check what happened," he said.

At the same time, the lead changed in Thiruvananthapuram from the first minute of counting. Rajeev Chandrasekhar's majority crossed 25,000 when votes were counted in urban areas. With this, there was hope in the BJP camp. As the lead waxed and waned, worry and hope alternated. But after a long wait, when the votes were counted in the coastal region, Tharoor gradually increased his lead.

This time too, the constituency has repeated its behavior of abandoning the Left Front in the Lok Sabha elections. This is the third time that LDF has been relegated to the third position in the constituency. Thiruvananthapuram, which has leftist MLAs in six out of seven assembly constituencies, has relegated the LDF to the third position this time as well. On the other hand, the BJP discussed development but could not secure a win.