Voting is going smoothly so far in Kerala, Assam, and Puducherry Assembly elections on Thursday. Till 1 pm, Kerala reported a voter turnout of 50 per cent, Assam 59.63 per cent, and Puducherry with 37.06 per cent of the electorate casting their votes till 11 am.
In Kerala, according to Election Commission (EC) figures, by 1 pm, 49.70 per cent of the 2.71 crore voters had cast their vote. Polling in all the 140 Assembly constituencies in Kerala commenced at 7 am after completion of the mock polling. People started arriving early in the morning at the 30,495 polling stations.
The ruling LDF is fighting to retain power, banking on Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's model of governance and welfare. The Congress-led UDF is vying to regain power, seeking to end a decade of Left rule in the state. Amidst this traditionally bipolar contest, the BJP-led NDA is looking to disrupt the duopoly of LDF and UDF and aims to translate its growing vote share into a decisive presence in the state Assembly.
Assam —
In Assam, where the BJP-led NDA is seeking a third consecutive term in power, while the Congress is striving to reclaim a state it lost a decade ago, the voting began at 7 am for the 126-member Assembly, and 59.63 per cent of the state's 2.5 crore voters had exercised their right in the first six hours, defying overcast skies and rains in many parts of the state. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa also casted his vote.
A total of 722 candidates are in the fray for the elections, which is largely witnessing a direct contest between the BJP-led ruling coalition and the opposition bloc helmed by the Congress. Assam’s Dudhnoi in Goalpara district recorded the highest turnout till 1 pm at 66.11 per cent, while Dibrugarh witnessed the lowest at 50.85 per cent.
Votes are being cast at 31,490 polling stations across the 35 districts of the state, with polling concluding at 5 pm.
Among the heavyweight candidates whose fates would be decided in this election are Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, state Congress president Gaurav Gogoi, AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal, and Raijor Dal leader Akhil Gogoi. Congress has fielded the highest number of candidates at 99, followed by the BJP with 90. The AIUDF has 30 candidates, while NDA constituents Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and Bodoland People's Front (BPF) are contesting 26 and 11 seats, respectively. In the opposition bloc, Raijor Dal is contesting 13 seats, Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) 10, CPI(M) 3, and APHLC 2. Other parties in the fray include AAP (18), UPPL (18), TMC (22), JMM (16), besides 258 Independents.
Puducherry —
Puducherry registered 37.06 per cent of the electorate casting their votes till 11 am as polling commenced in all 30 Assembly constituencies. Voting began at 7 am in Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe, and Yanam regions, with as many as 9.50 lakh voters deciding the fate of 294 contestants.
As the NDA is fighting to retain power, the opposition bloc is pushing to wrest power from the AINRC-led front in the union territory, centering its campaign on local autonomy and administrative friction in the Union Territory. Key figures, including Lt Governor Kailashnathan, Chief Minister N Rangasamy, Home Minister A Namassivayam, and Congress leader V Narayanasamy, were among the early voters to exercise their franchise.
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