‘Playing BJP’s game’: Shashi Tharoor accuses Left of splitting votes

File photo

Trivandrum:

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday claimed that the “only impact” of the Communist Party of India’s campaign against him in Thiruvananthapuram was to “split the anti-BJP votes”.

The senior Congress leader said in a post on “.

His post added: “The only impact of the CPM’s campaign against me in Thiruvananthapuram was to split the anti-BJP votes. They are preaching alliance dharma in Wayanad!”

The irony is the same @cpofindia complain @rahulgandhiWayanad’s candidature is being contested by the BJP in Thiruvananthapuram. The only impact of the CPM’s campaign against me in Thiruvananthapuram was to split the anti-BJP vote. They preach Alliance Dharma…

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) March 19, 2024

In response, CPI General Secretary D Raja said that all that was left was to “fight the communal and fascist forces”.

“This is a ridiculous statement. An educated person like Shashi Tharoor must understand the history of Kerala correctly. It is the Left that is fighting against communal and fascist forces… So many states Big party leaders are leaving and joining the BJP,” he said.

The CPM leader retorted as to why Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was contesting from Wayanad in Kerala.

“Rahul Gandhi claims that he is spearheading the fight against the BJP, so why is he contesting from Wayanad and fighting the LDF? The Congress must explain, what message do they want to convey to the people. Who are their main political opponents… ….,” Raja told news agency ANI on Tuesday.

Mr Tharoor, meanwhile, believes the work he has done in the constituency over the past 15 years will speak for itself.

“I have served the people of Thiruvananthapuram for 15 years. They know me and have seen my services. I have nothing to be ashamed of in my record. I have always been available and taken care of all People who need it.’ The main problem,” he said.

“It has been a three-cornered race here because I took the seat from the LDF. They won twice before me and then the last two times, the BJP came second. So we have to take both seriously candidate. I am very confident that I will win,” Tharoor said on Monday.

Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar of the Bharatiya Janata Party versus Congress MP Tharoor.

Pannyan Raveendran, the Left Democratic Front’s Lok Sabha candidate from Thiruvananthapuram constituency, said the main fight in the constituency is between the LDF and the Congress-led United Front.

“The main contest is between LDF and UDF. The BJP is irrelevant in Thiruvananthapuram,” Mr. Ravindran, who won the constituency in 2005, told ANI on Tuesday.

Kerala will hold single-phase elections on April 26. There are 20 Lok Sabha constituencies in Kerala, and the BJP has never won an assembly seat in the state.

In the earlier Lok Sabha elections in 2019, the NDA won 353 seats, UPA 91 seats and other parties 98 seats.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)