The following were the polling percentages at the time of filing this story: Kasargod 69.90 per cent, Kannur 72.88 per cent, Wayanad 70.32 per cent, Kozhikode 73.39 per cent, Malappuram 67.28 per cent, Palakkad 71.07 per cent, Thrissur 72.24 per cent, Ernakulam 72.07 per cent, Idukki 65.97 per cent, Kottayam 71.06 per cent, Alappuzha 73.37 per cent, Pathanamthitta 61.83 per cent, Kollam 69.16 per cent and Thiruvananthapuram 67.77 per cent.
Long rows were visible in polling booths across the state, with people enthusiastically turning up for casting their votes. Polling was moderate to brisk, particularly in the northern districts. Though the skies gave a sniff in the morning and several places sustained steady drizzle, people did turn up for voting in the state. However, the polling was slow in the southern districts.
A neck-to-neck race is expected in Kerala as all 140 constituencies are in the battle in the assembly polls. The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) and BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) were locked in a three-cornered contest on Monday.
For the ruling UDF, it is a fray for retaining power in the state. A success would also stage a golden opportunity for the Congress to reinstate back to the streak at the national level, after its humiliating loss in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
On the other hand, a drubbing in the polls for the LDF would spell disaster for it especially at a time when the Left is trying hard for a comeback in West Bengal, once a stronghold of the Communists.
The two fronts, ruling the state alternately, have been posed a challenge by the BJP, which had done better in the recently conducted civic elections in the state.
Tags: Kerala assembly elections Kerala voters Kerala voting
