The seasoned diplomat and former UN Under-Secretary General Shashi Tharoor was on Thursday (19th March) named the Congress candidate for the key Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat in Kerala. Talking to reporters in Thiruvananthapuram, soon after Congress released its list of candidates for Kerala in New Delhi, Tharoor said that, he would take this as a challenge.

 

Tharoor is fielded against Ramachandran Nair, the current Thiruvananthapuram district secretary of the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the candidate of the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF). Another formidable opponent is Neelalohithadasan Nadar of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). On an earlier occasion, Nadar had trounced CPI leader M.N. Govindan Nair as a Congress candidate in 1980. Nadar this time is contesting on a BSP ticket.

 

Another major political party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is yet to name its candidate for this seat. Tharoor earlier on Thursday (19th March) visited Congress leader K. Karunakaran and sought his support. Tharoor is going to formally launch his campaign at the district party headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram today (20th March).