A provisional voter turnout of 73.06 per cent was recorded Tuesday in the elections to the 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala which by and large was peaceful.
An estimated 73.06 per cent of the 2.61 crore voters cast their franchise as of 6 pm when the polling time officially ended but this was likely to go up when the final figures are tabulated, official sources said.
It was a do-or-die battle for both the ruling CPI(M)-led LDF and opposition Congress-headed UDF in most of the 20 Lok Sabha seats this time in the state, known for its decades-long bipolar politics.
The BJP-led NDA posed a formidable challenge to the two traditional fronts in at least three constituencies -- Thiruvananthapuram, Pathanamthitta and Thrissur.
A senior election official told PTI that since there were a large number of people standing in queues in some places, they would be allowed to vote.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who contested from Wayanad in addition to Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, his party colleague Sashi Tharoor, BJP leader Kumanam Rajasekharan (both Thiruvananthapuram) and Union Minister Alphons Kannamthanam (Ernakulam) were among the prominent candidates in the fray.
More From This Section
Kannur Lok Sabha constituency recorded the highest voting percentage of 78.16 per cent at 6 pm while Ponnani recorded the lowest 68.31, according to preliminary Election Commission figures.
The hilly Wayanad, which was lashed by heavy rains, recorded a voting percentage of 76.21 per cent.
Thiruvananthapuram, where Tharoor is locked in a fierce triangular battle involving Rajasekharan and CPI's C Divakaran, registered 70.86 per cent polling.
Pathanamthitta, where the Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa temple is located and witnessed to volatile protests against the state government's decision to implement the September 28 verdict permitting women of all age groups into the shrine, recorded 71.39 per cent.
Two elderly persons collapsed and died while waiting to cast their votes in polling booths at Vadakara and Pathnamthitta constituencies, while another person, who returned home after voting, complained of uneasiness and died shortly thereafter, police said.
A 21-year-old man was arrested after his complaint of EVM malfunction in a booth where he cast his vote in the Lok Sabha elections here Tuesday turned out to be false, police said.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the UDF had won 12 seats and LDF 8.