Thiruvananthapuram, July 9 Amid an uneasy equation with the Congress high command, senior leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor appears to have received a significant boost from a pre-poll survey conducted by Mumbai-based VoteVibe, which names him as the most preferred candidate for the post of Kerala Chief Minister.
Tharoor wasted no time in sharing the survey results on his X handle on Wednesday.
The post -- seemingly shared by a supporter -- was also tagged to senior Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, K.C. Venugopal, Priyanka Gandhi, and Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan.
The fan’s post read, “@shashtharoor emerges as the best bet for chief ministerial choice for the 2026 Kerala polls for a faction-ridden UDF alliance, a recent survey reveals.”
While top Congress leaders in the state have so far refrained from commenting on the development, the newly appointed Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president, Sunny Joseph, sought to downplay it.
He said that in Congress, leadership decisions are made only after the election results. There is a process for it.
It is widely known in party circles that Tharoor’s ties with the Congress central leadership have been strained since he decided to contest the party presidential election against Mallikarjun Kharge.
The tension escalated further when his name was excluded from the list of Congress leaders recommended for the Union government’s Operation Sindoor outreach.
However, in a notable turn, Prime Minister Narendra Modi later invited Tharoor to lead a delegation to the US and other countries.
On his return, Tharoor acknowledged differences with the party leadership but said he was open to a dialogue if asked.
A four-time MP from Thiruvananthapuram since 2009, Tharoor topped the VoteVibe pre-poll survey with 28.3 per cent support among voters in the state. However, the survey also flagged a leadership vacuum within the opposition United Democratic Front (UDF), with 27.1 per cent of voters remaining undecided on the alliance’s face.
The crisis of leadership appears even starker within the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF). Former Health Minister K.K. Shailaja emerged as the most preferred leader with 24.2 per cent support, while incumbent Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan lagged behind at 17.5 per cent.
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