One Kerala story: Tharoor highlights cross-community voting pattern

Shashi Tharoor highlighted Kerala Assembly election results as proof of communal harmony, noting voters elected candidates across religious lines in multiple constituencies. Referring to a “Kerala story,” he said the state continues to prioritise humanity over caste and religion despite identity politics

Thiruvananthapuram: Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Thursday cited the Kerala Assembly election results as an example of communal harmony, saying the state remained a place where voters looked beyond caste and religion.

In a social media post, Tharoor said the results offered a “Kerala story” that “communalists should note”, an apparent reference to the film The Kerala Story, which portrayed Kerala in a negative light through allegations of “love jihad” in the state.

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“One #KeralaStory from the recent election results that communalists should note: a Muslim majority constituency, Thavanur, elected a Christian, VS Joy; a Hindu majority constituency, Kalamassery, elected a Muslim. VE Abdul Gafoor; and a Christian majority constituency, Kochi, elected a Muslim, Muhammed Shiyas,” he wrote.

Despite some influence from the national trends in favour of identity politics, Kerala remains a model of communal harmony, a state where people see human beings first and caste or religion later, the Thiruvananthapuram MP said. Tharoor later posted a clarification after some social media users pointed out the absence of an example where a Muslim-majority constituency elected a Hindu candidate.

“I note that some have commented upon a “missing link” in my story, asking for evidence of a Muslim majority constituency electing a Hindu candidate. This has also just happened in Trikaripur, where Sandeep Varier won for the UDF. A fourth example to reinforce my #KeralaStory!” he said.

All the candidates mentioned by Tharoor were from the Congress-led UDF, with VE Abdul Gafoor representing the IUML, a key ally of the Congress in Kerala. The UDF won the election with 102 seats in the 140-member Kerala Assembly.