Rajeev Chandrasekhar concedes defeat to Shashi Tharoor; claims Kerala supporting BJP

Thiruvananthapuram: BJP candidate Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Tuesday conceded defeat to Congress' Shashi Tharoor in the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat, but said that the election result in Kerala indicates that people are increasingly supporting the saffron party.

Chandrasekhar, who is the Union Minister of State for Information Technology in the outgoing cabinet, told PTI that it was "disappointing" that he lost, even though the BJP fought a very strong battle in the state.

"We have come very close and have set a record margin and vote share. It shows that people of Kerala are increasingly supporting the BJP. It is disappointing that I couldn't win today, but fought a clean campaign. We didn't use divisiveness like our opposition. Growth of BJP in Kerala is completely expected and will continue," he said.