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2024 polls may be my last contest to LS from Thiruvananthapuram: Tharoor
Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor said Tuesday that if the party permits him to contest for the fourth time in the 2024 elections, it would be his last election for the Lok Sabha
: Senior Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday said that if the party permits him to contest for the fourth time in the 2024 elections, it would be his last election for the Lok Sabha.
Tharoor, a member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) and one of the popular faces of the party in the country, made the comments in a local TV news show. “My desire right now, if the party permits, would be to contest and become an MP (from Thiruvananthapuram) for the fourth time. It would also be the last time. That is my request,” Tharoor said during a show on Asianet news.
When asked if he could win against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2024 elections from Thiruvananthapuram should the latter stand, the Congress MP replied, “I will have no problems (defeating the PM). The people have seen me and my work. They have directly observed my talents, qualities, and weaknesses. If they feel tired of me, they have every right to change their MP. Whoever the opponent is, I will fight on my record.”
According to party leaders aware of the matter, the three-time MP and former union minister of state is likely to be given the ticket from Thiruvananthapuram once again considering his influence in the constituency, lack of a popular alternate face and his decent margin of over 99,000 votes in the 2019 election over the nearest Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rival.
Tharoor, who fought unsuccessfully against Mallikarjun Kharge for the post of national president of the Congress party, also said that he was currently focused on the Lok Sabha elections instead of becoming active in state politics.
“Later, based on the political situation then, we can decide (if I should move into state politics),” he said.
