CHENGANNUR: Heavy rain failed to dampen their mood as 76.3 per cent of the voters braved bad weather and stepped out to choose their representative at the Chengannur bypoll on Monday. The turnout was a marked improvement from the 74.36 per cent recorded in the 2016 Assembly election.The bypoll was necessitated following the demise of CPM MLA K K Ramachandran Nair, who died on 14 January.
Right from 7 am, long queues were seen at a majority of the polling stations. Voters continued to turn up well past the closing time of 6 pm. Polling officers issued passes to all standing in queues at 6 pm and allowed them to vote.
Polling was delayed for some time in Kallissery, Budhanoor, Thriperumthura, Thiruvanvandoor and Eramallikkara due to technical snags faced by electronic voting machines (EVMs). The Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machine was replaced at Venmony polling station after the gadget ran into some technical glitch.
Polling was mostly peaceful. A minor altercation between CPM and BJP workers erupted at Pandavanpara polling station, but the situation was swiftly defused by the deployment of additional police and paramilitary forces.
The Election Commission (EC) had arranged for live webcasting from 20 polling stations that had been identified as problematic by the police. Additional paramilitary forces were deployed at these places.
VVPAT a first experience
LDF candidate Saji Cheriyan cast his vote at SNDP HSS, Kozhuvalloor (booth number 77), while UDF candidate D Vijayakumar voted at Government HSS, Puliyoor (booth number 97).Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala registered his choice at UP School, Thriperumthura.NDA’s P S Sreedharan Pillai is the other main contestant in the fray. The counting will take place on Thursday.
The VVPAT was a first experience for voters in this constituency. After pressing the EVM, voters got printed slips with the name of the candidate they had chosen.NCC volunteers came to the aid of the differently abled and elderly voters. Special facilities such as drinking water, toilet, resting place, medical team, feeding room and visitors’ book were arranged at the booths. Saplings were distributed as a token of appreciation to voters.The EC had appointed micro observers at all booths to observe the polling process. EC officials conducted mock voting one hour prior to the start of the polling process.
No stone left unturned at booths
Special facilities such as drinking water, toilet, resting place, medical team, feeding room and visitors’ book were arranged at the booths