Thiruvananthapuram, March 28 (IANS): Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology and NDA's candidate from Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat Rajeev Chandrasekhar pointed out that despite the union government sanctioning funds through the Jal Jeevan Mission three years ago, 2.6 lakh households in Thiruvananthapuram have not been provided with safe drinking water connection.

He is pitted against sitting Congress MP Shashi Tharoor seeking a fourth successive term and LDF's Panniyan Ravindran who had won a by-election here in 2005.

"The responsibility lies squarely with the state government, which has yet to release the matching grant. If elected, I pledge to prioritise bringing safe water to every household in Thiruvananthapuram," said the minister.

Thiruvananthapuram has seven lakh households.

In 2019, drinking water connection was available to only 23.20 per cent of people, but through the Prime Minister Jal Jeevan Mission, 62.40 percent of people got drinking water.

"What the state government could not do in 70 years, the Modi government has done in four and a half years," he said.

Kerala is slated to go to the polls on April 26 to elect 20 Lok Sabha members.