In the Kunnathunad constituency, which is witnessing a four-cornered fight, 32.97% of voters have cast their vote a little over three hours after polling began.
Long queues were not visible in most booths in the morning, including the ones in Peringala and Njaralloor. Party workers attributed this to the fact that booths with a larger number of voters have been split to form auxiliary booths to avoid crowding and maintain COVID-19
Karthu, a 69-year-old resident of Kunnathunad, who walks into a polling booth at Pazhamthottam, walking stick in hand, shrugs when asked about the parties and their prospects. She's here to cast her vote, but anybody can win as far she knows, she says.
Radha, an MGNREGA worker who is on her way to the voting booth at Kunnathunad, rubbishes the idea of win for Kitex-sponsored outfit Twenty20 in the constituency. "In ten years, the MLA [V. P. Sajeendran] as done much here," she says.
Janaki Ayyappan, another elderly Pazhamthottam resident who is on her way back from the booth, says that all parties are equally negligent and unlikely to do much for voters who diligently turn up to cast their ballot.
Lalitha, who works as a sweeper at a BSNL office and has just finished voting at a booth in Vadavucode, said that she never fails to cast her vote. "This time, Twenty20's campaign has received a lot of attention," she says.
Twenty20 candidate Sujith Surendran accompanied by some of the outfit's workers were out and about in Vadavucode in the morning. "The morning hours have recorded a good turnout, and this will hopefully pick up further in the afternoon," said Mr. Surendran, who voted in Manayathupeedika in the constituency.
While Mr. Sajeendran cast his vote in Aikaranad in the constituency, P. V. Sreenijin, the LDF candidate, voted from Elamakkara. While Mr. Sajeendran hopes that the campaign has cemented the UDF votes in the constituency, Mr. Sreenijin is confident that the "neutral" voters in Kunnathunad would have turned in LDF's favour this time.
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