BJP's Rajeev Chandrashekhar concedes defeat to Shashi Tharoor | Thiruvananthapuram LS seat

Bharatiya Janata Party candidate from Thiruvananthapuram Rajeev Chandrashekar has conceded defeat to Congress' Shashi Tharoor in the Lok Sabha elections.

Chandrashekhar is currently trailing by 15759 votes against Shashi Tharoor.

Earlier in the day, speaking to reporters, the Union Minister said, "...It is too early to analyse that...we campaigned extremely positively. There were dynamics of certain minority communities and certain narratives that were put out there by parties...maybe we were not able to break through or express...we are very happy and excited (Suresh Gopi leading from Thrissur)...it marks a very important milestone in the growth and expansion of BJP in Kerala and South India...".

During the initial hours of counting, the fight between Chandrasekhar and Tharoor was neck-and-neck with each taking a lead of a few thousand votes.

By noon, the BJP leader gained a healthy lead of around 24,000 votes over Tharoor, who is hoping to win a fourth time from Thiruvananthapuram LS seat.

However, more than an hour later, Tharoor took back the lead from Chandrasekhar by a margin of 11,815 votes.