Palakkad bypoll: Slight drop in turnout compared to 2021 Assembly polls

The Palakkad assembly constituency, which saw a high octane campaign that gave rise to scores of controversies, saw a voter turnout of 70.01 per cent till 6.49 pm on Wednesday after voting in the bypoll concluded in over 86 per cent of the polling booths.

This was a decline from the 73.83 per cent turnout recorded in the assembly polls held in the state in 2021. 

When polling started at 7 am, it proceeded slowly with a low turnout of only 1.11 per cent at 8 am, according to figures released by the Election Commission (EC).

By noon, five hours after voting commenced, the turnout reached 30.48 per cent. It took another three hours after that for the turnout to cross the 50 per cent mark.

 

At 6.49 pm, the turnout reached 70.01 per cent after voting concluded in 159 of the 184 polling booths in the constituency, the EC said.

It said that this was not the final figure as in the remaining booths, people were waiting in line to cast their votes.

There were long queues outside many booths in the constituency in the second half of the day, according to visuals on TV channels.

Some voters, especially women, told reporters that they waited till afternoon to go and vote in the hopes of avoiding the initial rush and long queues. "But there are long queues now," a female voter told a TV channel.

People arrived early in the morning at the 184 polling booths across the constituency, which has over 1.9 lakh voters.

Among the 10 candidates contesting for the assembly seat, the key contenders are Rahul Mamkootathil (Congress-led UDF), C Krishnakumar (BJP-led NDA), and P Sarin (CPI(M)-led LDF).

The by-election was necessitated after Congress leader Shafi Parambil resigned as MLA of the constituency following his election to the Lok Sabha from Vadakara during the general elections.

Polling commenced amidst tight security arrangements, including the deployment of central security forces and police, along with live monitoring of the by-election process through an extensive webcasting system.

Of the bypolls -- for one Lok Sabha and two Assembly seats -- scheduled in the state in November, the campaigning for the Palakkad constituency witnessed several controversies.

The Palakkad constituency holds significant importance for the Congress-led UDF, not only for retaining the seat but also because their rival LDF candidate, Sarin, is the former digital media convener of the KPCC.

Sarin was expelled from the Congress after he criticised the party's decision to select state Youth Congress president Mamkootathil as its candidate for the Palakkad bypoll.