Tharoor will be seeking a fourth straight term from the Thiruvananthapuram constituency, as he is up against a two-front contest against Union Minister of State, Rajeev Chandrashekhar and Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Panniyan Ravindran. 

 Tharoor, who has held the seat since 2009, is facing a challenge as the BJP has named a strong face of against him. 

Chandrashekhar has served as the MoS for Electronics, Entrepreneurship and Information Technology. Although CPI-M is part of the INDIA bloc, but it is not in any seat-sharing agreement with the Congress party in the state of Kerala. 

The CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) has fielded CPI leader Pannyan Raveendran from the constituency, who won the seat in 2005. All 20 Lok Sabha constituencies in Kerala will vote in a single phase on April 26. Counting will be held on June 4.