Eager voters exercise their franchise in droves

Voters made a beeline for the polling booths right from the morning despite heavy rain

A long queue of voters winds its way outside a polling booth at Vithura in the Aruvikkara Assembly constituency on Saturday. — Photo: C. Ratheesh Kumar

Imbued with the spirit of a high-decibel poll campaign and braving heavy rain, voters turned out in large numbers to exercise their franchise in the politically crucial by-election to the Aruvikkara Assembly constituency on Saturday. Barring minor scuffles, polling was peaceful across the constituency.

Even before the gates to the polling booths were opened at 7 a.m., voters had started gathering near several booths. But owing to overnight rain, long queues were not visible until around 9 a.m., when polling picked up pace. The trend of high voter percentage was visible in the first two hours as the polling percentage crossed 20 per cent.

Candidates in the fray made sure that their supporters reached the polling booths early in the morning to avoid inconvenience in case of rain. Heavy police force, including personnel of the Border Security Force, was deployed in all the booths to ward-off poll-related untoward incidents.

At Vithura

The four polling booths at Government Upper Primary School, Vithura, were the centre of attention, with a total of 21,400 voters. Among those who turned up here were 91-year-old Subhadramma and her sister 87-year-old Kamakshi Amma.

“I don’t remember when I voted first. It could be the first elections after Independence. We have not missed any,” said Kamakshi Amma.

In the tribal areas of the constituency such as Kottoor and Kallar, many reached on foot trudging several kilometres. By 1 p.m., the polling percentage was hovering near 50 per cent. The next two hours witnessed a lull as heavy rain forced voters to stay inside.

Government Higher Secondary School, Aruvikkara, witnessed a protest by Left Democratic Front activists after three voters who crossed the gates just before 5 p.m. were not allowed to cast their votes. The issue was resolved after the presiding officer let them cast their votes.

Power failure

Following the rain, a few booths in Uzhamalakkal panchayat experienced power failure. Polling was disrupted for more than an hour, leading the voters who had gathered to voice their protest. Even as the deadline of 5 p.m. neared, huge queues were visible outside these booths. Polling continued late into the evening in these booths.