Majority of Kerala voters are in a mood for change: Shashi Tharoor in Kerala

Speaking of on-the-ground support for the UDF, the Congress leader says ‘what matters is securing a comfortable majority to run an effective government’.

Congress Working Committee member Shashi Tharoor spoke to The Hindu on Monday (April 6, 2026), a day before public campaigning for the Kerala Assembly election ended, about the Congress’s prospects, development agenda, internal dynamics in the party, the need for a change in governance in Kerala, and his forecast for the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) showing in the polls. Edited excerpts: 

Did the Congress’s decision to field defected leaders from other parties cause any resentment within its rank and file?

We can all have opinions about the choice, but what’s encouraging is that everybody has now rallied behind. It’s no secret that many of us may have had different views about some of the decisions. But it’s truly welcome that there’s been no backbiting, no absenteeism from the polls, no one griping to the media, and above all, no rebels. So, we are all out there in strength and with unity.  

What is the sense that you are getting from the ground? 

For me, I get the impression from the ground that there is support in favour of the United Democratic Front (UDF). It may not be an overwhelming win, but we are clearly ahead, and the majority of voters are in a mood for change. I know that leaders have been talking about 85 to 100 seats. But in the end, what matters is securing a comfortable majority to run an effective government. 

In 2011, it was almost a close call for the UDF in Kerala.