The UDF levelled allegations of slow polling in select booths, which it said led to people having to wait for several hours to vote.
Published Sep 05, 2023 | 11:06 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 05, 2023 | 11:08 PM
Women queue up to cast their votes in the by-election to the Puthuppally Assembly on Tuesday, 5 September, 2023. (ceokerala/Twitter)
The by-election to the Puthuppally Assembly seat in Kerala saw a voter turnout of 72.91 percent on Tuesday, 5 September.
People braved intermittent rain to queue up at the polling booths right in the morning, but the constituency with around 1.76 lakh electors saw a bigger turnout in the first half of the day.
The seat fell vacant after the demise of Congress stalwart and former Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy earlier this year.
The Congress stalwart — who had twice been the chief minister of Kerala — had represented it for 53 continuous years.
The Congress-led UDF in the Opposition fielded Oommen Chandy’s son, Chandy Oommen. Analysts viewed this as an apparent strategy to capitalise on the sympathy wave following the former chief minister’s death.
The ruling LDF decided to go with DYFI leader Jaick C Thomas, who had unsuccessfully contested the segment in 2016 and 2021 against Chandy senior.
Voters lined up to cast their votes in Puthuppally Bye election. The images are from various polling stations in Puthuppally, Kerala.#EveryVoteMatters #IVote4Sure #NoVoterToBeLeftBehind #PuthuppallyByeElection @ECISVEEP @SpokespersonECI @PIB_India @PIBTvpm pic.twitter.com/IJTH9kzi8w
— Chief Electoral Officer Kerala (@Ceokerala) September 5, 2023
In the present composition of the 2021 Kerala Assembly with a total of 140 seats, the ruling LDF has 99 seats, the UDF has 40 seats, while Puthuppally is vacant. If Thomas wins, the LDF will touch the magic 100 figure in the state Assembly.
There are 1,76,417 voters — including 90,281 women, 86,132 men, and four transgenders — in the Puthuppally constituency.
Of the total electorate, 1,28,624 people — 64,084 men, 64,538 women and two transgenders — exercised their franchise in Puthuppally on Tuesday.
A brisk pace of voting was seen in the first half of the day, with the turnout crossing 50 percent by as early as 2 pm.
However, it slowed down thereafter. The subsequent four-five hours of polling saw only an additional 22.91 percent turnout.
The UDF levelled allegations of slow polling in select booths, which it said led to people having to wait for several hours to vote. Some people returned home without casting their vote due to this delay, it added.
Speaking to reports on Tuesday, Chandy Oommen demanded that the matter be looked into.
Thomas, too, was of the view that if there had been a delay in the polling process in some booths, then it should be investigated.
പുതുപ്പള്ളിയിൽ പല ബൂത്തുകളിലും പോളിംഗ് വൈകിച്ചത് ദുരൂഹമാണ്. നൂറുകണക്കിന് വോട്ടർമാരാണ് കാത്തുനിന്ന് മുഷിഞ്ഞ് വോട്ട് ചെയ്യാനാകാതെ മടങ്ങിയത്. ക്രമക്കേടുകൾ ചോദ്യം ചെയ്ത യുഡിഎഫ് സ്ഥാനാർത്ഥി ചാണ്ടി ഉമ്മനെതിരെ സിപിഎം ഗുണ്ടകളുടെ ഭീഷണിയും കയ്യേറ്റ ശ്രമവുമുണ്ടായി. ജനാധിപത്യത്തിൻ്റെ…
— Congress Kerala (@INCKerala) September 5, 2023
Some other highlights of the bypoll were the setting up of 10 polling stations as “pink booths” that were decorated with balloons, arches, tablecloths, and ribbons of that colour and were staffed entirely by women officials and police officers.
Besides that, some polling stations also had facilities to take care of the children who came along with their parents, under the Systematic Voters Education and Electoral Participation Program (SVEEP) — an initiative of the Election Commission to encourage more voter turnout.
Children at such polling stations were given toys and balloons to play and snacks were also distributed among them as they waited for their parents to finish voting.
NSS volunteers and Anganwadi workers kept an eye on the children while their parents exercised their franchise.
As part of SVEEP activities, ELC students arranged a model polling station for Puthuppally Bye Election at Pongamthanam UP School North and South Blocks.#EveryVoteMatters #IVote4Sure #NoVoterToBeLeftBehind #PuthuppallyByeElection @ECISVEEP @PIB_India @SpokespersonECI pic.twitter.com/aY06fgMil1
— Chief Electoral Officer Kerala (@Ceokerala) September 5, 2023
The LDF’s Thomas said the polling marked a historic day for Puthuppally. He added that the election would be a litmus test of the LDF government’s performance.
Chandy Oommen said people would decide the fate of Puthuppally. Both candidates exuded confidence in winning the election. Speaking to South First earlier, Chandy Oommen called the election a “dress rehearsal” for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
While Chandy Oommen is contesting for the first time, Thomas is seeking the people’s mandate from Puthuppally for the third consecutive time. Thomas had in 2021 brought down Oommen Chandy’s victory margin to 9,044 from 27,092 votes in 2016.
The LDF has been highlighting the lack of development in Puthuppally, a segment Oommen Chandy represented for 53 consecutive years till his death on 18 July.
(With PTI inputs)
