Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 8 (IANS): Veteran BJP leader and former union minister O. Rajagopal on Monday said that no one can beat senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor in the upcoming Lok Sabha election in Thiruvananthapuram.

“No one can beat Tharoor in Thiruvananthapuram. He came from Palakkad and has won the hearts of people here. That is why he continues to win. No one can defeat him in the years to come,” Rajagopal said while speaking at an award function in presence of Tharoor.

Rajagopal finished as runner up to Tharoor during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

After Rajagopal finished his speech, Tharoor touched the feet of veteran BJP leader.

Tharoor has said that he is prepared to contest for the fourth time from the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat in 2024.

“I will win even if I have to fight against Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Tharoor said a few weeks back.

Tharoor, a former undersecretary general at the United Nations, was a surprise choice when he flew back to India and after meeting the then Congress top brass and secured a party ticket to contest the 2009 Lok Sabha polls from Thiruvananthapuram.

Since then he has completed a hat-trick of wins and the only tough time he had to face was in 2014 after the untimely death of his wife Sunanda Phuskar.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, he won with a margin of 99,989 votes, while during 2014 Lok Sabha election the margin was 15,470 and during his debut election in 2009 Lok Sabha election the winning margin was 99,998 votes.

It is expected that the BJP senior leaders like S. Jaishankar, Nirmala Sitharaman, and Rajeev Chandrasekhar may contest against Tharoor in upcoming Lok Sabha election.