Heavy rains failed to dampen the democratic spirit of voters in seven districts of Kerala which went to polls on Monday in the first phase of the crucial civic polls. As per the figures provided by the State Election Commission, 76.20 percent of the voters in these seven districts exercised their franchise. Polling in the remaining seven districts of the State will take place on Thursday in the second phase.
Despite concerns about possibility of violence, especially in Kannur district known as Marxist heartland of Kerala, polling passed off largely peacefully across the State though some incidents of attacks on candidates and conflicts between rival party workers were reported from some places.
The seven districts which went to polls on Monday in the first phase of the election to the three-tier local bodies had witnessed 77.33 percent voter turnout in the 2010 poll. In the first phase, turnout in village panchayats was 77.03 percent while the municipalities and city corporations saw 78.49 percent and 67.95 percent turnout respectively.
Polling was held in the first phase in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Idukki, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasaragod districts. Open campaigning for the election in the remaining seven districts will conclude on Tuesday. Counting of votes will take place on Saturday.
The hilly Wayanad district recorded the highest voter turnout of 81.58 percent on Monday. In the 2010 election, Wayanad had recorded 81.03 percent turnout. The coldest voter response was witnessed in Thiruvananthapuram district where only 69 percent voters exercised their franchise.
Kollam recorded 73.67 percent voter turnout whereas the polling percentages in Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod were 77.34, 73.65 and 77.31 respectively. With 91.84 percent turnout, Anthur in Kannur district recorded the highest polling percentage among the municipalities where election was held on Monday.
Two candidates of the CPI(M)-led lDF suffered hack injuries in clashes in southern Kerala whereas Reshma, a woman candidate of the Congress-led UDF in the Pariyaram Village Panchayat in Kannur, was allegedly attacked by Marxists. Clashes between rival party workers were reported from Kasaragod district.
Queues at polling stations in Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam were short in the morning as heavy rains lashed these districts but polling picked up speed by noon after the downpour ended. Voters braved heavy rains to reach the polling stations in several places in the hilly Idukki district where voter turnout was recorded as 80.85 percent.
Claiming that the lDF would register surprising wins in the local bodies poll, Pinarayi Vijayan, former State CPI(M) secretary, said, “The ruling UDF will shatter after this.” In a tit-for-tat response to this, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said, “He had made the same statement 17 times in the past four-and-a-half years. Has the UDF shatteredIJ”
State BJP chief V Muraleedharan claimed that his party would come to power in local bodies other than those in Kasaragod district where it had proved its might in the past. “This local election will rewrite the political history of Kerala,” he said.
As many as 44,454 candidates are seeking mandate in the second phase of the election to be held on Thursday, in which 1.40 crore voters are to elect their representatives in the local bodies of seven districts, including two corporations and 51 municipalities.
The current local election, considered as the full-dress rehearsal for the 2010 Assembly polls, is crucial to both the main coalitions and the BJP alike. While the UDF wants an emphatic win in the civic poll to claim its capacity to retain power in the Assembly polls, the lDF has to prove that it has got over its frailties. The BJP considers the civic poll as its decisive step to “opening account” in the State Assembly.