Tharoor's trip to polling booth stirs controversy

Shashi Tharoor, the Congress candidate for Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat, cast his vote on Thursday morning.

Shashi Tharoor, the Congress candidate for Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat, cast his vote on Thursday morning. But his visit to the polling booth generated controversy with police forced to take action after opposition workers protested against him attracting media attention.

HT Image

The former UN undersecretary general arrived with his mother at the polling station in L.P. School at Jawahar Nagar and expressed confidence that he will win. "This is my kani (first) vote," Tharoor said after casting his ballot. He held up his voter I-card for mediapersons to see.

But soon trouble began as Tharoor started speaking to the large number of reporters outside the school.

Angry Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) activists began protesting against this on the ground that the large media contingent was preventing voters from entering the polling booth.

Policemen stationed there intervened and Tharoor left along with his mother.

Tharoor is battling four candidates for the prestigious seat.