Tharoor facing twin challenge in Thiruvananthapuram

The party contends that the results of elections are not determined by caste and religion alone.

“The outcome of elections is decided by politics, issues and the stature of the candidate. All these are in favour of Tharoor,” says Mohan Kumar, District Congress Committee (DCC) president.

Fighting hard to defend the seat against the backdrop of the cloud cast by his wife Sunanda Pushkar's death, Tharoor has accused rivals of dragging his personal sorrow into the public domain for their narrow electoral ends.  
LDF raked up the issue well before the campaign started, forcing Tharoor to approach Election Commission against some LDF leaders, accusing them of having made humiliating comments in public.

A former UN Under Secretary General, Tharoor had attracted the “outsider” tag when he was named the Congress candidate for the seat in 2009 with many in his party doubting his ability to cope with electoral politics.