Thiruvananthapuram: Rain keeps off as voters troop to booths

Thiruvananthapuram: Polling booths across Thiruvananthapuram constituency witnessed heavy rush of voters even after 6 pm on Tuesday with people coming out in large numbers to cast their votes. Like other districts in the state, the Thiruvananthapuram and Attingal constituencies received literally no rainfall during the polling hours giving ideal weather condition for the people to come out and vote in large numbers.

People were seen queuing up before the polling booths indicating the poll process might end late night. Apart from minor incidents, the election in the district was a peaceful one. Within 3 hours after the polling kicked off, the voting percentage went up to 18.75 percent and within five hours, around 9.3 lakh cast their votes taking the voting percentage to over 35 percent.

The district witnessed a spike in voting percentage compared to the last Lok Sabha election. The polling percentage went over 73 percent at both constituencies in the Thiruvananthapuram district. At Bheemapally, mild tension erupted when the officials denied entry for voters after 6 pm.  

Shabana M F, who came to cast her vote at Kamaleswaram, says it’s her second election.

 “I had to wait in the queue for 30 minutes to cast my vote. I do not want to miss election. It’s our democratic right and I would say everybody should do it. We should choose the candidate wisely,” says Shabana, who brought her one-year-old along with her at the polling station.

Sameera N, another voter from Nemom also had the same opinion.

 “I would never want to miss an election. It’s the time to show the politicians the power of common men,” she adds.