Kerala records 28.38 pc polling till 11 am

Polling for the single-phase elections in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, as well as the Union Territory of Puducherry along with the Lok Sabha by-polls for Kanniyakumari seat in Tamil Nadu and Malappuram seat in Kerala, is progressing smoothly.  Polling is also being held in Assam and West Bengal for the Third Phase of Assembly Elections.

The people were seen standing in long queues in front of the Polling Stations right from the beginning. All the necessary facilities and security arrangements have been made to ensure free and fair polling during this phase.

The Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) is being used along with Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) at every Polling Station, with a view to enhance the transparency and credibility of the election process. The polling will be conducted till 6.00 P.M.

In Assam while it will continue till 6.30 P.M. In case of Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, polling will continue till 7.00 P. M. barring the Left-Wing Extremism affected areas where it will be held till 6.00 P.M.

Kerala records 28.38 percent voter turnout till 11 am. 30.96 percent male voters, 25.95 percent female voters and 5.53 percent transgender voters cast their ballots till now. Entire state is witnessing heavy turnout in the initial hours of polls.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, BJP State President K. Surendran and Metroman E. Sreedharan are among the prominent leaders cast their votes in the morning itself. All the leaders expressed confidence in winning the elections. Voting is peacefully underway  in all the  constituencies. Long queues are seen outside the polling stations.

Voting began at 7am in the morning and it will continue till 7 pm in  131 constituencies and  it will end at 6 pm in nine naxal affected constituencies. Over 2.74 crore voters will cast their votes in 40,771 polling booths across the State. 957 candidates are contesting the assembly polls and six in the Loksabha bypoll.

 

Elections are being conducted in strict adherence to Covid-19 and green protocols. Covid patients and quarantined voters will be permitted in the final hour of polling. Elaborate security arrangements are in place all over the state. Webcasting and CCTV facility is being provided in most of the polling booths to prevent bogus and double voting.

In Tamilnadu, the present status of polling is 9.23 Percentage. polling goes on smoothly in the single-phase assembly elections in all the 234 assembly constituencies. People unmindful of the hot summer have come in large numbers and are participating in the festival of democracy.

Along with the Assembly election, voters of Kanyakumari have to additionally exercise their franchise for the bye poll in the Kanyakumari Lok Sabha constituency.

The political fate of 3998 candidates will be decided today by a total of six crore 28 lakh sixty nine thousand 955 voters spread across  37 districts in the



State.

In addition, actor-politician Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) and the newly-forged alliance between TTV Dhinakaran’s Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) and Asaduddin Owaisi's All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) are also trying to make big inroads into the state politics. 

The massive democratic exercise in the State takes place today amidst rising summer temperatures and increasing Covid cases. The Assembly elections are held amidst Covid 19 regulations in place. face masks have been made mandatory for all the voters.

All polling booths have been equipped with minimum basic facilities to make the voters exercise their franchise without any hassle. Shamianas have been put up to protect voters from the heat, Safe drinking water, special arrangements for persons with disabilities have also been ensured in polling stations.  Poll booths have been given face masks, PPE Kits, hand sanitisers, hand gloves for health safety purposes.

Provision to dispose of used gloves have also been kept in the polling booth. As today is a paid holiday, voters are expected to come in large numbers to exercise their franchise. The election Commission with the message that no one should be left out has also made arrangements to operate over ten thousand buses for the benefit of the voters.

Election Commission has also made an arrangement with UBER to transport the elderly free of cost to cast their vote in Chennai Coimbatore and Tiruchy. Covid positive people can vote from 6 pm to 7 pm today exclusively.. According to political experts, this election expects decisive participation of a larger number of voters as the State faces a multi-cornered contest in many constituencies.

In Puducherry, 324 candidates including 35 women are vying for 30 seats. Over 10.04 lakh voters including 5.31 lakh women and 116 Third Gender persons will decide the fate of these candidates. Total 1,559 Polling Stations have been set up for this purpose. Naam Tamilar Katchi has fielded 28 candidates and DMDK has 26, AMMK-25, MNM-22, DMK-13 Congress-14 while NR Congress has given tickets to 16, BSP-11 and BJP has put up nine candidates in the fray.

In West Bengal, 14.62% polling has been recorded in the first two hours. Barring a few stray incidents, polling is going on peacefully in 31 assembly constituencies across three districts, Hooghly, Howrah and South 24 Parganas. Elaborate security arrangements have been made to ensure free, fair and peaceful polling. 618 companies of central forces have been deployed along with more than 11 thousand state police for the three districts.

In South 24 Parganas, booth number 102 of Satgachia assembly seat has been made as a model from where webcasting will be done for international audiences.

In Uluberia Uttar constituency, a sector officer has been suspended by the ECI as he allegedly took four EVMs outside. Deputy Election Commissioner Sudip Jain has asked for a report regarding the incident.