Shashi Tharoor, the sitting MP of Kerala’s capital Thiruvananthapuram reclaimed his seat. He won by a margin of 99,989 votes over his closest competitor Bharatiya Janata Party’s Kummam Rajasekharan . Former Union Minister in the UPA government Shashi Tharoor has fought his toughest election ever in 2019. Surprisingly, for this Congress candidate, 2019 is a much tougher than the 2014 election when his wife Sunanda Pushkar had died a few months before elections, under mysterious circumstances. Then he was elected albeit a lower margin, affected by a Modi wave and allegations of involvement in Pushkar’s death. This time around, Tharoor was countered by a full throttle campaigning by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the communist party. A matter of faith The BJP candidate K Rajasekharan has been playing the ‘faith’ angle. The Sabrimala controversy has left the majority of the population angry as many believed that women should not enter the shrine, to maintain its sanctity. The party had been banking on the fact that people are angry with Left Democratic Front (LDF) in the state. BJP also believed that their ability to sway votes will be able to let them win their first seat in the state. Last election, their candidate O Rajagopal had come very close to bringing Tharoor down. Tharoor won by a bare minimum margin of over 15,000 votes, much unlike his earlier victories. It indicated that BJP might have a chance at a win, this time around. Tharoor who had earlier risen to the rank of Under Secretary General at the United Nations, and known for his chaste English, entered Indian politics in 2009. He struck a chord with his electorate in spite of not being a typical Malayalee. Though Tharoor is known to sing Christian carols and embrace Islamic traditions, he also identifies himself as a Hindu. During the Sabarimalai controversy, he banded with the popular opinion and stood with his people. C Divakaran, an MLA from Communist Party of India is the third contestant, who sought mandate from Thiruvananthapuram by focusing on civic issues, moving away from popularity, incumbency and matters of faith.

Shashi Tharoor survives aggressive rival campaign to win by a wide margin

<ul><li>Rao Inderjit Singh admitted that the government is aware of shortcomings in its data collection. </li><li>Singh was responding to a question by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor who said that India is facing a crisis of statistics. </li><li>The government withdrew a survey conducted by National Statistical Office on consumer expenditure. </li></ul> In a rather lively discussion in the Lok Sabha’s winter session of the Parliament today, the minister of state for programme implementation Rao Inderjit Singh admitted to something few thought government would—the accuracy of data it releases. “The government is aware of shortcomings in its data collection,” Singh said<a href="https://www.news18.com/news/india/govt-aware-of-shortcomings-in-data-quality-says-rao-inderjit-singh-2402735.html"> in response to</a> Thiruvanthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor’s question. According to the Congress MP Tharoor, India is facing a crisis of statistics. His comments came after the government decided to withdraw a survey conducted by National Statistical Office on consumer expenditure. The reason why the government chose to sweep the survey under the carpet is understandable. As per the survey, household consumption fell to ₹1,446 in 2017-18 which was at ₹1,501 six years back. Adding the component of inflation, the data shows that Indian homes are getting much frugal in a way that is affecting their quality of life. Show me the data! But this survey came to light only after newspaper Business Standard published the report which was never officially released. Later, the government withdrew the survey, leading Tharoor to question the government's intent and credibility. It has become a common for the Modi government to suppress data as the Prime Minister spends most of his time painting a colourful picture. Earlier this year too, the government had hid another survey by National Sample Survey Office (NSSO). As per the survey, Indian unemployment rate was at 45 year high at 6.1% in 2017-18 and was published by Business Standard in March this year. This periodic labour force (PLF) study was withheld and released after general elections in May. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/policy/economy/news/nsso-survey-showed-consumer-spending-fell-but-modi-govt-hid-report/articleshow/72064799.cms">Indian government hid another survey that showed fall in consumer spending for the first time in four decades: Report</a>

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Shashi Tharoor survives aggressive rival campaign to win by a wide margin

BI India Bureau

Rao Inderjit Singh admitted that the government is aware of shortcomings in its data collection

Katya Naidu