BJP's Rajeev Chandrasekhar holds road show in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Union Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Thiruvananthapuram, Rajeev Chandrasekhar held a road show on Tuesday.

Chandrasekhar is contesting against Congress leader Shashi Tharoor who is a three-time MP from Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency.

Earlier, Shashi Tharoor accepted the BJP candidate Rajeev Chandrasekhar's challenge to have a debate on the development of Thiruvananthapuram.

In his post on X, Tharoor said that he welcomed the debate but also accused Chandrasekhar of evading the debate till now.

"Yes, I welcome a debate. But the people of Thiruvananthapuram are aware of who has been evading a debate till now. Let us debate politics and development. Let us debate price hike, unemployment, corruption, communalism and the BJP's 10 years of propagating politics of hatred," he said.

Earlier in a post on X, Chandrasekhar accused Tharoor of spreading misinformation during a recent interview with the Kerala-based news organization where he falsely accused Chandrasekhar of offering money to religious leaders and key voters in the constituency.

In his post on X Rajeev said, "We have been debating in multiple forums during the last two weeks, and people have seen you struggle for answers to my questions on these occasions. Forced into a defensive mode, you chose to disseminate falsehoods that not only defamed me but also besmirched numerous social and religious organizations within my constituency. Therefore, to start with, you need to answer the following questions I have posed to you."

Notably, a letter has been sent to the Election Commission of India, the Chief Electoral Officer of Kerala, and Adeela Abdullah, the Additional Chief Electoral Officer & Additional Secretary Nodal Officer of Model Code of Conduct, Kerala, stating that Tharoor violated the Model Code of Conduct by spreading falsehoods and misinformation about Rajeev Chandrasekhar.

It is noteworthy that the constituency of Thiruvananthapuram will go to the polls on April 26 during the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections. This constituency in Kerala is being closely watched due to a high-profile contest between Congress' Shashi Tharoor and the BJP's Rajeev Chandrasekhar.

The Lok Sabha polls are scheduled to be held across seven phases, starting April 19. The counting of votes is scheduled for June 4.