Daijiworld Media Network - Thiruvananthpuram

Thiruvananthpuram, Apr 16: Amidst political rivalry, ice-melting moments are the rarest to witness especially during peak time of election poll. This Tuesday morning witnessed such a moment when Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman visited Congress candidate Shashi Tharoor in hospital a day after he was injured during a religious ritual at a temple in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram.

Tharoor tweeted this morning that 'Civility is a rare virtue in politics' and that he was touched by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's gesture of visiting him.

"Touched by the gesture of @nsitharaman, who dropped by this morning to visit me in hospital, amid her hectic electioneering in Kerala. Civility is a rare virtue in Indian politics - great to see her practice it by example!(sic)," tweeted Shashi Tharoor.

Shashi Tharoor, aiming for a hat-trick of wins, on Monday suffered a freak accident while performing a ritual at a temple in Thiruvananthapuram leading to eight stitches on his head. A heavy iron hook fell on him while he was being weighed on a giant scale as part of the 'thulabharam' ritual.

He is likely to be discharged from hospital on Tuesday and will resume his campaign.

He also thanked C Divakaran, his Left Democratic Front rival for 'expressing concern' over a phone call. He tweeted, "Very gracious of my LDF rival C Divakaran to call this morning to express concern about my well-being. Said he had spoken to the Hospital Superintendent to assure him I would be okay. "Don't be demoralised", he added. I'm not: I'm more determined than ever to see this through!"

Tharoor is seeking re-election from Thiruvananthpuram, where Kummanam Rajasekharan, former Governor of Mizoram, is the BJP candidate. Kerala will vote in a single phase on April 23 in the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections.