Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala would be going to the polls on Tuesday to constitute the 17th Lok Sabha which would elect 20 MP’s from here. The voting time is from 7 am to 6 pm. The election campaigning culminated on Sunday at 6 pm which saw instances of violence across the State.
This time there are a total of 2,61,51,534 voters. Out of that, 1.26 crore are male and 1.34 crore female. 174 voters are transgenders and 1,35,357 differently abled voters. 2,88,191 first time voters will utilise their voting powers. Chief Electoral Officer Teeka Ram Meena said that a mock poll will be done at 6 am. Kozhikode collector Sre-eram Sambasiva Rao enforced prohibitory orders in Vadakara LS constituency on polling day. Section 144 has been imposed in Vadakara from 6 pm on Tuesday to 10 pm on Wednesday to ensure a peaceful situation. The district collector has urged before the people not to gather in Vadakara, Onchiyam, Nadapuram, Perambra and Kunnummal village panchayats.
He had also issued an order banning public functions and rallies in the district from Sunday 6 pm onwards. The district collector has directed the district police superintendent and other top officials of the police to ensure that the prohibitive orders are strictly maintained.
A similar incident also happened at Thodupuzha. Ramya Haridas, UDF candidate at Alathur was also attacked by LDF supporters forcing her to seek medical help. Stones were a pelted at her. In Thiruvananthapuram, CWC leader A.K. Antony was also not spared from the attack by the LDF supporters during his road show at Veli.
Mr Antony slammed the incident and called out the incident as hooliganism from the CPM. In Kasaragod, police used tear gas to disperse the crowd. More than 30 people, including a policeman were injured at Thiruvalla where BJP and CPM workers clashed.
Several top leaders belonging to the Congress, CPM and BJP made a beeline to the state to campaign for their respective candidates. Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to the state twice at Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram.
BJP national president Amit Shah also visited Pathanamthitta and Wayanad. The 40-day long intense campaign saw leaders belonging to leading political fronts hurling charges and counter charges.
In fact, few leaders like BJP state president P.S. Sreedharan Pillai and LDF convener A. Vijayaraghavan came under the wrath of the Chief Electoral Officer, Teeka Ram Meena. The high profile campaign saw Congress candidate Rahul Gandhi contesting from Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency. It also saw his sister and AICC general secretary in-charge of Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Priyanka Gandhi campaigning for him for two days. A slew of union BJP ministers also came down to campaign for their party candidates. CPM leaders, Sitaram Yechury, Prakash Karat, Brinda Karat and Subhashini Ali and CPI leader Sudhakar Reddy also campaigned for their candidates.
