Civility a rare virtue in politics, says Shashi Tharoor after Nirmala Sitharaman visits him at hospital

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who suffered head injuries at a temple in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday, was visited by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at the hospital where he is undergoing treatment.

Tharoor tweeted a picture of Sitharaman’s visit and said that he was touched by her gesture amid the hectic electioneering in Kerala. “Touched by the gesture of @nsitharaman, who dropped by today morning to visit me in the hospital, amid her hectic electioneering in Kerala. Civility is a rare virtue in Indian politics - great to see her practice it by example!,” he wrote in his tweet.

Tharoor suffered head injuries when the hook of a weighing scale came off and its iron panel hit his head while performing 'thulabharam' ritual at a temple in Thiruvananthapuram.

According to party sources, Tharoor, who is aiming for a hat-trick from Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency, sustained injuries on his head, which required six stitches.

The 63-year old MP also suffered a minor leg injury in the incident which occurred at a Devi temple here. 'Thulabharam' is a Hindu ritual in which a person is weighed against a commodity such as flowers, grains, fruits and similar articles in temples and the equal value or quantity is offered as donation.

The accident happened when Tharoor, sitting in the weighing scale, was waiting to see the 'deeparadhana' (aarti) being performed at the sanctum sanctorum," Sivakumar later told reporters.

The iron panel of the weighing scale came down and hit his head," Sivakumar added.

Tharoor was given first aid at the government general hospital here and then taken to the Trivandrum Medical College for detailed examination, party sources said.

Television channels showed the former union minister getting into a car with a bandaged head and waving to onlookers wearing a blood-stained kurta.