Thiruvananthapuram, April 16 -- Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Tuesday called on Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who is in hospital after suffering head injuries while performing a ritual at a temple here.

Tharoor, the Thiruvananthapuram MP and party candidate in the April 23 Lok Sabha polls, was injured when the hook of a weighing scale came off and its iron panel hit his head during the "Thulabharam" ritual.

He was admitted to the Thiruvananthapuram Medical college hospital Monday, and is expected to be discharged later Tuesday.

The former union minister later tweeted, "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 vir...