The time is 8 a.m. The skies have just cleared up after overnight rain. A Kerala State Road Transport Corporation ordinary bus stops in front of the forest office in the Kottoor tribal area. Within a minute, all the 50-odd passengers inside alight and queue up in front of the forest office, polling booth number 151 for the Aruvikkara by-election.
A majority of the 480 voters in this booth live up in the hills at Mangode, Chonampara, Kanithode, and other places.
“We got this tarred road and power supply only in the past 4-5 years. Some of us got houses under various schemes too. At least a few of us used to vote even before the roads came. But this year, everyone is excited as we are witnessing this level of campaigning and so much attention for the first time,” says Ajayakumar, one of the voters here.
This refrain about the voter turnout being the result of intensive campaigning in otherwise neglected areas was heard across much of the tribal belt in the constituency.
At Government Lower Primary School, Kallar, everyone standing in queue was speaking about the new faces who turned up for voting this year.
“We come from an area called Thannippatti, about 6 kilometres from here. We came by foot and had to cross a river. This time when they came, we told them about our long-time demand for a bridge here. We expect something to be done this time,” says Vijayakumari.
Near the polling booth at Bonacaud, close to the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border, several vehicles registered in Tamil Nadu were seen. The area once had several settlers from the neighbouring State working in tea plantations here. Following the closure of these plantations a few years ago, many of them left for their home State, but come back here during every election, with some prodding by the various party workers.
The ones who still live here travel to Thiruvananthapuram city for work daily.
“I decided not to go for work today so that I could vote. After all, this is the only proof for the government that I am still alive,” says Raghu, a voter here.