Tharoor Tops Kerala CM Poll, Congress Worried

Assembly elections are to be held in Kerala in November-December this year. All the parties have started putting in their best efforts for this. A survey that came before the Kerala Assembly Elections has shocked everyone. Especially Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has started sweating. In the survey, Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor has been described as the most preferred candidate for the post of Chief Minister of Kerala. This survey has come out amid tension between Tharoor and the Congress high command and speculations of closeness to BJP. Tharoor has shared this survey conducted by Mumbai-based VoteVibe on his ex account.

In the VoteVibe poll, Tharoor has been placed on top among Kerala voters with 28.3 percent votes. However, 27.1 per cent of voters were unsure about the leadership of the UDF. The poll also highlights the leadership vacuum within the United Democratic Front (UDF).

Despite Tharoor's strong performance, former health minister KK Shailaja emerged as the most preferred leader in the LDF faction, garnering 24.2 votes. While current Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan got the support of just 17.5 people.

The Votevibe survey was posted on X by a Tharoor supporter. In this, he tagged senior Congress leaders like Rahul Gandhi, KC Venugopal, Priyanka Gandhi and Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan. The post said that a recent survey shows that Shashi Tharoor has emerged as the best candidate for the chief minister's post in the 2026 Kerala elections for the faction-ridden UDF alliance.

According to the report, despite this survey coming out, newly appointed Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Sunny Joseph tried to underestimate him. Joseph said the Congress chooses its leadership after the election results following a due process.

Reportedly, Tharoor's relationship with the national Congress leadership has been strained ever since he contested the party president's post against Mallikarjun Kharge. The tension deepened further when his name was removed from the list of leaders for the central government's Operation Sindoor outreach initiative.