The sitting MP from Thiruvananthapuram, Shashi Tharoor might have to face some competition in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Tharoor though widely accepted by the majority in Kerala, will face a tough fight from both the BJP as well as the CPI.
Results from previously held elections have shown that the fight in 2014 was not easy for Tharoor. The then contesting BJP candidate O Rajagopal had given tough competition to the celebrated author. Tharoor just won with a margin of about 15,470 votes against the BJP candidate in 2014. This time the BJP has pitched Kummanam Rajasekharan against Tharoor. The BJP candidate has considerable presence in Thiruvananthapuram.
The Senior Congress leader also has tough competition from the Left Front which has pitched sitting MLA C Divakaran. The Left front in 2014 also gave a hard time for Tharoor when he stood against P Ramchandran Nair and won only with a margin of 99,998 votes. The added advantage to the CPI candidate Divakaran is that he has been born and raised in Thiruvananthapuram and so has a better understanding of the local people. The Left front does not seem to be in mood to spare Congress this time.
The major problems that Tharoor is facing are not just from rival parties. The senior leader has expressed his disappointment from his party heavy weights. The party leader has complained that local party members are not helping him in the campaign. He wrote a letter to the high command which went unnoticed by the Congress high command in Delhi. The opposition from the CPI is stronger as it has opposed the idea of Rahul’s adventure in Wayanad. CPI leaders had suggested a post-poll alliance with Congress, but seem to drop it after Rahul’s Wayanad nomination. The idea of contesting from Wayanad is a bad decision as the vote margin between Congress and CPI will narrow down. This election campaign strategy was meant to form an anti-BJP squad. However the Congress is throwing caution to the wind by going against potential allies in Kerala. CPI is confident to defeat Congress in Wayand. Ignoring an appeal made by a leader like Tharoor might cost the Congress in Kerala.
While Tharoor is struggling to win the triangular tussle, the internal problems might lead to a defeat for the laureate. The Rahul Gandhi led party seems to concentrate more on the President winning from Wayanad than putting thought in places they have higher prospective. The Party has just been working to help Rahul Gandhi fulfil his ambitions in Wayanad while senior and sitting MPs like Shashi Tharoor see zero response from local ministers.
Tharoor has also expressed his concern over the neglect that the Congress high command has shown with respect to other leaders of the party. He states that both the BJP and CPI leaders contesting against him are respected within their party. This shows the lack of attention Congress is providing to constituencies that it has a good chance of winning. It is an example of weak leadership in the Congress. Tharoor says, “one could argue that neither have the necessary experience or even the demonstrated ambition to be an effective voice for the city.”
Congress and its unmanaged campaigning techniques seem to annoy good and prospective leaders in its own party. Leaders in the Congress party contesting from other zones of India are complaining about “lack of support” Only time will tell if Congress would realise its mistake or keep repeating them in each election.