67.48% turn up to vote in all 20 seats
KOCHI: Polling in all 20 Lok Sabha constituencies in Kerala concluded on Friday in the second phase of the general elections, with the state — which is witnessing a three-corner contest among the alliances led by the Congress, Left and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — recording a provisional voter turnout of 67.48%, according to the Election Commission of India (ECI).
The voting figure, which ECI officials said may vary as long queues were observed at various polling booths across the state after the official time of voting ended at 6pm, may still fall short as compared to 77.84% in the 2019 general elections.
Kannur recorded the highest voter turnout of 70.76% while Pathanamthitta logged the lowest polling percentage at 60.85%, according to ECI figures. Wayanad, where Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is seeking a second straight term, recorded 72.62% polling. He is squaring off against CPI’S Annie Raja and BJP state chief K Surendran. Thiruvananthapuram, which is witnessing a triangular contest between three-term Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, Union IT minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar and Pannyan Raveendran of the CPI, recorded 64.14% turnout.
Officials said that long queues outside the booths towards the end of polling at 6pm suggested that a large section of the voters stepped out to vote in the evening to escape the extreme heat conditions. The IMD had issued yellow alerts in 12 districts of the state, warning of high temperatures and humidity levels.
There were sporadic incidents of technical glitches and breakdowns of EVMS as well as allegations of bogus voting. Leader of opposition VD Satheesan said the polls in the state were not “free and fair” and demanded a probe into the low voter turnout.
“Voters returned after waiting for hours in scorching heat. Many who returned did not get a chance to vote...,” he alleged.
A total of 27.7 million voters were eligible to exercise their franchise, including around half a million first-time voters.
Meanwhile, eight people died amid voting of possible heat stroke in various constituencies, including Palakkad, Alappuzha and Malappuram. There is no official confirmation on the cause of these deaths.