THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala on Thursday registered a voter turnout of 71.51 percent amidst early speculations of a low voter turnout.
Thiruvananthapuram recorded a low of 62.61 percentage where the high-profile Congress candidate Shashi Tharoor is contesting.
Vadakara topped the list with a percent of 83.94. The contest in Vadakara where Congress veteran Mullappally Ramachandran is taking on sitting MP CPM’s P Sathidevi in the presence of rebel CPM leader T P Chandrasekharan became trickier with this unusually high turnout.
The polling percentage for the rest of the constituencies are: Kollam 66.41, Attingal 64.30, Pathanamthitta 65.62, Alappuzha 76.66, Idukki 68.66, Mavelikkara 69.55, Kottayam 71.23, Ernakulam 69.46, Thrissur 68.92, Chalakkudy 73.71, Palakkad 70.98, Kozhikode 76.08, Alathur 75.48, Ponnani 72.26, Vadakara 83.94, Kannur 77.04, Malappuram 74.95, Wayanad 73.57, Kasargod 71.07 Voter apathy due to different reasons was noted in some southern constituencies.
There was unprecedented enthusiasm from the Church in central Kerala and heavy turnout in the strongholds of CPM rebels in the north. The most embarrassing aspect in many constituencies was the absence of Left enthusiasm on the polling day. These factors are likely to work to the advantage of the UDF.
The pace with which polling began in the morning came down sharply in the closing hours. This was evident in the coastal belt of the state where the polling was high during forenoon — unprecedented since earlier polling used to gain momentum only in the afternoon in these regions. Even urban areas registered low voter turnout in the afternoon.
Leaders of almost all political parties cast their votes in their polling stations. The UDF leaders said the conventional theory that low turnout would help LDF candidates would not work this time.
What’s worrying the UDF is the fact that in the Malabar region voting was high when compared to the southern parts of the state. However, they claim that the votes polled in the first session itself prove that it was an anti-LDF wave.
The sure LDF votes have not recorded this time as the anti-incumbency wave against the LDF Government and the PDP factor have severely impacted on the voters.
Lack of enthusiasm among the Marxist cadres is another factor for the low voter turnout. The maximum votes polled in constituencies like Vadakara where the CPM was facing the rebel factor has also raised concerns among the CPM cadres.
NO MAJOR VIOLENCE: With no attempts at booth-capturing or any major clashes between activists of political parties, the Lok Sabha elections went off quite peacefully in Kerala.
Nevertheless, two Congress workers were hacked allegedly by CPM activists at Erivessi in Kannur. An attempt to manhandle UDF candidate of Alappuzha constituency and sitting MLA K C Venugopal was made at Cherthala after he intervened in the scuffle between UDF and LDF activists.
There was an attempt to manhandle a police official at a polling booth at Kanakakkunnu in Alappuzha district.
UDF CHARGE: The UDF has accused the CPM of indulging in widespread bogus voting and booth capturing in some booths in Kannur. ‘‘Polling process was deliberately delayed to cast bogus votes with the active connivance of presiding officers loyal to the CPM. The police remained inactive as poll irregularities took place,’’ Congress leader K Sudhakaran told reporters here.
