By around 11 O’clock on Thursday morning, Keralites should be able to know as to who will rule the State for the next five years. It takes just a few hours to get the results from the entire 140 Assembly constituencies.
All you have to do is sit in front of the television; you can also catch the latest information on your mobile phone or computer.
It has all become possible, thanks to the introduction of the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM). But, before the introduction of modern machines, one had to wait for the entire day to know the results.
So, a candidate had to go through several agonising hours to know his fate. Something what senior politicians like Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and Ramesh Chennithala went through.
They have also contested in elections after EVMs were introduced.
“Yes, a candidate can now know his fate in a matter of a few hours, which means we do not have to go through a prolonged period of suspense,” Home Minister Chennithala told The Hindu . “I had contested in elections in which the results came late in the night.”
CPI(M) State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan recalled waiting for results at the counting centre after contesting in Thalassery in 1982. “The latest position would be displayed on a board outside the centre, and unlike these days, it would take hours to know the lead position after each round,” he said.
“Party workers would also be updating us over telephone on the progress of counting in other constituencies. Radio was the primary source for the latest news on elections.”
Live discussions
K.M. Narendran, Assistant Director, All India Radio, Ahmedabad, said elaborate arrangements used to be made for election coverage.
“I remember broadcasting regular news bulletins and live discussions during the 1987 Assembly election,” he said, adding: “The AIR used to send correspondents to every district.”
That was also the year when Doordarshan began covering the election in Kerala. Baiju Chandran, Deputy Director (Programmes), Doordarshan Directorate, New Delhi, was in charge of the coverage in 1987.
“We used to broadcast news on election instead of the regular programmes from Delhi Doordarshan,” he said.
“I was also part of the team led by Prannoy Roy, who was a psephologist then, to cover the 1989 Parliament elections.”
Hindi films
Vinod Dua, who also went on to become a popular television journalist, used to anchor the Hindi part of that broadcast. And, they used to broadcast two or three Hindi feature films during the coverage, as it would have been impossible to fill an entire day with news on election those days.
For a viewer who had interest both in politics and movies, it was a double delight. One recalls watching Jab Jab Phool Khile during one such an election coverage on Doordarshan.
AIR used
to send correspondents
to every district for election coverage
