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Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Monday said that Congress leader Shashi Tharoor and former CPI MP Pannyan Raveendran did nothing for Thiruvananthapuram constituency during their respective tenures as Lok Sabha MPs.
Chandrasekhar, who is contesting this Lok Sabha polls from Thiruvananthapuram said that his vision document for Kerala's capital city will speed up the development of the constituency and that it will cover every segment of society. "Thiruvananthapuram for the first time after 20-25 years, seeing a vision for its growth and its prosperity. For the last 25 years, the people of Thiruvananthapuram have given a mandate to Pannyan Raveendran, to Shashi Tharoor three times and none of them have either a vision nor did anything during their tenures.," Rajeev Chandrasekhar told ANI. "For the first time after 25 years, we have a plan. A plan that I intend to implement over the next five years after the people of Thiruvananthapuram elect me as their representative," he said. "It is a plan that deals with agriculturalists, the fishing community, the technology community, retirees, better city infrastructure and every element that is required to make this place a global city, a world-class city, a competitive city," he added. Chandrasekhar faces a stiff challenge from former diplomat and senior Congress leader Tharoor, who is seeking a third term from the constituency. The CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) has fielded CPI leader Pannyan Raveendran from the constituency, who won the seat in 2005. While the BJP has never won a Lok Sabha seat in Kerala, the party registered a victory in the Thiruvananthapuram district just once, with O Rajagopal winning the Nemom assembly seat in 2016. In the 2019 polls, the BJP's Kummanam Rajasekharan won 31.3 per cent votes in Thiruvananthapuram, the largest vote share achieved by the party in all 20 Lok Sabha constituencies it contested in the state. However, with Chandrasekhar jumping into the fray this year, the battle for Thiruvananthapuram has turned into a three-cornered one and will be one of the most-watched contests in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls. All 20 Lok Sabha constituencies in Kerala will vote in a single phase on April 26. Counting will be held on June 4. (ANI)
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