Shobana vs Tharoor in LS polls? MP gets answer after chat with ‘friend’
The three-time MP from Thiruvananthapuram has said Shobana was a “friend” and she had told him over phone that she was not contesting the seat
Will veteran actor Shobana take on the mighty Shashi Tharoor from Thiruvananthapuram for the BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls? After days of heated speculation, an answer has come — not from the actor or the BJP but from Tharoor himself. No, she’s not, the Congress leader has said.
The sitting MP from Thiruvananthapuram has said Shobana was a “friend” and she had told him over phone that she was not contesting the seat.
How rumour started
Speculations over Shobana — who is otherwise known to steer clear of politics — joining the BJP started in early January when she was seen at a party event in Thrissur in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. She had praised the Modi government for passing the Women’s Reservation Bill.
Tharoor, on the other hand, is a three-time MP from Thiruvananthapuram looking for a fourth straight term. With the BJP trying hard to gain a foothold in Kerala, there is a lot of speculation over who in the saffron party could take him on.
Suresh Gopi’s remark
Barring Shobana, names that have been doing the rounds as possible BJP candidates for the seat are producer G Suresh Kumar, Union Minister of State Rajiv Chandrasekhar, and even Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
But the rumours around Shobana got stronger after actor-turned politician Suresh Gopi, BJP’s likely candidate from Thrissur, said he wanted her to contest the Lok Sabha elections. Gopi had even claimed that discussions were on within the party about Shobhana contesting from Thiruvananthapuram on a BJP ticket.
However, Tharoor seems to have put an end to the speculations by directly asking Shobana what was going on. The suave politician has said many names are cropping up as BJP candidates and he does not underestimate them. But BJP’s politics of hatred will not work in Kerala, he asserted.
