Assembly elections 2021: Voting underway in West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry
The counting of votes in all these states and union territory will be conducted on May 2. Two senior citizens cast their votes for the third and final phase of Assam Assembly Polls (ANI photo)
Share
Updated: Apr 6, 2021, 07:40 AM IST
Polling in the Assembly Elections for four states and one union territory began on Tuesday amid tight security and COVID-19 guidelines. At 7 am, voting for the final phase in Assam and the third phase in West Bengal, began. Voting also started for the single-phase polling in Kerala, Puducherry and Tamil Nadu.
Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], April 6 (ANI): Kerala has registered a voter turnout of 14.87 per cent till 9:40 am on Tuesday in the single phase of the state Assembly polls, according to the Election Commission.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Palakkad Assembly constituency, Metroman E Sreedharan on Tuesday said his party will for sure put an impressive show in the Kerala Assembly Elections adding that he will win from Palakkad with a big margin. After casting vote at a polling booth in Ponnani, E Sreedharan said, BJP will have an impressive show this time, there is no doubt about it. I will win from the Palakkad constituency with a big margin. My entry into BJP has given a different image to the party. Sreedharan is contesting against sitting MLA Shafi Parambil of Congress and CP Pramod of CPI-M.Sreedharan, the architect of the metro rail system in the country, joining the BJP was a much-celebrated event among the BJP lovers in and out of the state. BJP hopes to get the benefit from their undeclared Chief Minister face, Sreedharan s candidature throughout the state.
If the signs of voting are any indication, at the half way mark on Tuesday, 50 per cent of the Kerala voters have already exercised their franchise. If one was to look back at the 2016 assembly polls the state witnessed a 77.5 per cent overall turnout, in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls it rose to 77.84 per cent but it dropped to 76.20 per cent at the December 2020 Local body polls. And as things stand on Tuesday and given the pace at which the polls are taking place, it could well be an all time high if one compares the recent polls. Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha member Shashi Tharoor opined that as things stand and given the good turnout, this could be good for the Congress-led UDF.