Rajeev Chandrasekhar interview | ‘It is about replacing political culture of not doing anything with politics of performance’ Premium

Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar has based his Lok Sabha election campaign strategy as NDA candidate in Thiruvananthapuram constituency on highlighting the untapped potential of Kerala capital as a technology, tourism and research behemoth.

Having donned several hats, technocrat and industrialist-turned politician is entering the electoral fray for the first time. The three-time Rajya Sabha member, who has represented Karnataka thus far, has taken a calculated detour to join Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s ‘mission’ to make inroads in Kerala that has been an impenetrable stronghold of the Congress and the CPI(M)-led coalitions.

The Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and Jal Shakti has based his campaign strategy in the Thiruvananthapuram constituency on highlighting the untapped potential of the Kerala capital as a technology, tourism and research behemoth.

He is pitted against Congress Working Committee member and incumbent Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor, who is gunning for a record fourth consecutive victory from the constituency, and former Communist Party of India (CPI) Kerala State secretary and former MP Pannian Raveendran.

In an interview with The Hindu at the bustling party election committee office in Thiruvananthapuram, Mr. Chandrasekhar flayed both the Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) and the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) for allegedly preventing Kerala from achieving such goals and resorting to “petty politics” for their respective gains.