Will it be Tharoor vs Chandrasekhar in Thiruvananthapuram?

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) released its first list of candidates on Saturday, naming 195 contenders across the country. Among the notable mentions was the surprising selection of Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, a three-time Rajya Sabha member, as the BJP's candidate for the Thiruvananthapuram constituency in Kerala. Thiruvananthapuram battleground has intensified with Chandrasekhar's entry, challenging the stronghold of Congress heavyweight Shashi Tharoor, who has held the seat since 2009.