Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha Congress candidate Shashi Tharoor, aiming for a hat-trick of wins, sought a probe into an accident at a temple in the city on Tuesday, 16 April. He had sustained a head injury in the incident and had had to get eight stitches.
Tharoor, while seeking a probe, said such incidents are unheard of. “My mother is 80 plus. She also said she has never heard of any such mishap. It is good to clear the air,” he added, as per Hindustan Times.
The incident occurred at the popular Gandhari Amman temple in Thiruvananthapuram, where he had gone to celebrate Vishu, the traditional Hindu New Year.
While he was seated on a weighing balance against sugar equal to his weight, as part of a temple ritual – the chains holding the balance broke and fell on Tharoor's head. He was then rushed to a hospital.
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday praised the "spirit" of Shashi Tharoor seeking re-election from Thiruvanathapuram, for joining him in campaigning despite suffering head injuries during a temple ritual a day ago.
Gandhi, while addressing thousands of party workers in a poll campaign in Thiruvanathapuram, said he was worried when he heard about Tharoor's injury, PTI reported.
“I was worried when Tharoor was hurt. But happy to see that he was back in action. Tells you about his spirit. As Congress president, I tell you, he represented you well in Parliament... He speaks for you in the Parliament. He is an asset for Kerala,” Gandhi said.
On Tuesday, while he was admitted in the hospital, Tharoor got a surprise visitor in Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. This prompted him to tweet his gratitude:
Tharoor was seen in Gandhi’s poll campaign with his head wrapped with a scarf covering the stitch. However, he has cancelled all election related programmes listed for Wednesday.
Tharoor is engaged in a three-way electoral battle with former Mizoram Governor Kummanem Rajasekheran of BJP and CPI's C Divakaran, a sitting legislator and former state minister.
In 2014, Tharoor had scraped through with a margin of around 15,000 votes against BJP's O Rajagopal, who is now an MLA.
(With inputs from Hindustan Times, IANS, PTI.)
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