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Kerala polls ends on peaceful note
Published on Sat, Apr 22, 2006 at 08:22, Updated on Sat, Apr 22, 2006 at 18:42 in section
Tags: Assembly Polls, Kerala , New Delhi
New Delhi: Polling for the first phase of Assembly elections in Kerala, covering 59 constituencies in six districts, ended on a peaceful note at 1700 hrs, IST on Saturday.
Starting on a dull note in the initial hours, voting gained momentum in most places by noon. Long queues were seen in some polling stations in the rural areas from the morning itself, while polling progressed on a slow pace in the cities.
Election Commission sources said no untoward incident was reported from any part of the districts.
A total of 409 candidates were in the fray in Thiruvananthapuram, Pathanamthitta, Kollam, Alappuzha, Idukki and Kottayam districts.
According to the EC report about 51 per cent of votes were polled till 1500 hrs, IST. Thiruruvanathapuram district recorded 44.5 per cent polling, Kollam 51.34 per cent, Idukki 49.09 per cent, Pathanamthitta 52.67 per cent, Allappuzha 52.56 per cent and Kottayam 53.50 per cent, they added.
The electoral fortunes of Chandy, nine of his colleagues in the United Democratic Front Cabinet and some of the prominent Communist Party of India (Marxist) leaders will be decided on Saturday in the first phase of Assembly elections covering 59 segments in six southern districts of the state.
A total of 409 candidates are in the fray in the first phase, spread around six southern districts of Thiruvananthapura, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha and Idukki.
The major contestants in the fray for the first phase of polling include Chief Minister Oommen Chandy (Puthupally), nine of his cabinet colleagues, CPI-M leaders M A Baby (Kundrara), P K Gurudasan (Kollam), RSP leader and Rajya Sabha member N K Premachandran (Chavara).
Chandy is contesting opposite CPM greenhorn Sindhu Joy, whose aggressive campaigning in the district has already had people noticing her.
The 26-year-old candidate put up hundreds of posters to remind voters that she as president of the Students Federation of India in Kerala and a victim of alleged police brutality. Just like Chandy, Sindhu, too, moves around with crutches and hopes to cash-in on sympathy politics.
In all, 8,292 polling booths have been arranged for voting and 22,000 police personnel deployed for the smooth conduct of the polls.
The phase covers a total of 83.89 lakh voters, of whom 43.20 lakh are women.
The UDF lifted the majority of seats in the area in 2001 Assembly polls, reversing the pro-LDF tilt of 1996.
However, going by the outcome of the 2004 Lok Sabha polls and last year's civic elections, the LDF had regained much of the lost ground in south Kerala.
Though pre-poll surveys have predicted a comfortable win for the LDF in the state, the signals from the field in the last phase of campaigning show that the UDF has made the battle a grim one for its rival.
The second phase of polling will be held on April 29 and the third phase on May 3.
(With inputs from Naveen Nair and Agency)
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