The voting to the Kerala Legislative Assembly Elections began at a slow pace in Thiruvananthapuram district at 7 a.m. on Wednesday. No major incidents of violence or delay in polling were reported in the district till 1 p.m.
According to the District Election Office, 28 per cent of the total 23,85,480 voters in the district exercised their franchise by 11 a.m. The capital has reported the lowest polling percentage in the State so far.
Vigorous polling was reported from Parassala Legislative Assembly Constituency (LAC) in the morning (around 32 per cent at 11 a.m.) Voter turn out was low in Attingal (24 percent) and Vattiyoorkavu (26) constituencies.
Union Defence Minister A.K. Antony cast his vote in the morning at Jagathy Government School.
Mr. Antony walked to the polling station from his house, accompanied by his wife Ms. Elizabeth Antony and Congress Leader M. M. Hassan. Mr. Antony told journalists that the United Democratic Front (UDF) was set for a big win in Kerala.
Former Minister of State for External Affairs Sashi Tharoor, MP, cast his vote at the Government Lower Primary School, Jawahar Nagar.
A group of Left Democratic Front (LDF) workers created a commotion in front of the polling station, accusing the policemen at the gates of allowing a “group of Congress workers” to enter into the polling station alongside Mr. Tharoor. The police later denied the allegation.
Polit bureau member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), S. Ramachandran Pillai, who cast his vote at a Government School near PMG, told reporters that the LDF would rule for a successive second term in Kerala.
Ignoring apparent differences in social status, wealth, gender and age, citizens socialized with each other at polling stations and waited patiently in queues to cast their votes.
A large section of voters preferred to get their voting slips from election officials manning the help desks in front of polling booths instead of from agents of political parties and candidates.
The activities of agents of candidates operating out of make shift sheds near polling stations seemed more subdued this time compared to the last elections arguably because of the strict enforcement of electioneering norms in the district.
Voting yet to gather pace in coastal areas
Voting in the politically energetic coastal belts of the district was yet to gather momentum even at 12.30 p.m.
Local politicians said that most of the men were at sea and they would return only in the afternoon. A considerable number of women had gone to various markets in the district to sell the day’s early morning catch.
T. Peter, secretary of the National Fish Workers Federation, said voting in the costal areas would pick up in the afternoon when the fisher folk return home from work.
He said at least 8000 fishermen would have set out to sea in outboard engine powered “marine ply wood” boats from Vizhinjam harbour alone on Wednesday morning.
The sea off Thiruvananthapuram coast was abundant in sardine, mackerel, anchovies and a small variety of tuna (Polla Chura) in the hot summer months preceding the South West Monsoon. Mr. Peter said not even a fiercely contested election, such as the current one, could keep fishermen away from the sea during a season of rich catches.
Hundreds of fishermen from Anchuthengu, Poonthura, Marianadu and Pulluvila localities in the district would have joined those who set out from Vizhinjam to harvest the sea. Most of the fishing boats were expected to make landfall by 3 p.m.
Eliyamma, a 50-year-old fish vendor at Palayam market, said she set out from her home at Poonthura at 4 a.m. to buy seer fish at wholesale rates from Pangode market. The costly fish, considered a delicacy, is mostly imported in large frozen consignments from Mangalapuram in Karnataka and Tuthukudi in Tamil Nadu.
Eliyamma said she hoped to sell the fish before it spoiled, make a “small” profit, buy vegetables and provisions for her family of five and rush home in a public transport bus to cast her vote before the polling concluded at 5 p.m.
Election officials said hundreds of fisherwomen like Eliyamma were e expected to throng polling stations in the coastal areas in the final hours of voting. The police have deployed in strength at Poonthura, which witnessed poll related violence on the last day of open election campaigning.
