Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday thanked Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for calling on him at the hospital where he is undergoing treatment for an injury from a fall.

In a tweet, Tharoor lavished praise on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader noting particularly that “civility is a rare virtue in Indian politics”.

“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!” tweeted Tharoor.

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! pic.twitter.com/XqbLf1iCR5

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) April 16, 2019

The tweet was accompanied by a photo of the two leaders shaking hands.

Sitharaman was not the only leader whom Tharoor thanked for enquiring about his health. His political rival in Thiruvananthapuram, Left front leader C Divakaran, called him, too.

“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 himself I would be ok. “Don’t be demoralised”, he added. I’m not: I’m more determined than ever to see this through!” tweeted Tharoor.

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 himself I would be ok. “Don’t be demoralised”, he added. I’m not: I’m more determined than ever to see this through!

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) April 16, 2019

Tharoor suffered head injuries while performing ‘thulabharam’ ritual at a temple in Thiruvananthapuram.

‘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 a donation.

He also suffered a minor leg injury after the hook of the weighing scale came off and hit his head.

Tharoor was taken to Trivandrum Medical College hospital for detailed examination. Photos in the media showed Tharoor with a bandaged head and blood-stained kurta getting into a car.

The two-time MP is busy campaigning in his constituency for a hat-trick. He was at the temple to perform the ritual on the occasion of the Malayalam new year ‘Vishu’.