Kerala election 2021 updates: LDF, rival UDF upbeat about forming govt

A day after Kerala went to the polls, the CPI(M)-led LDF and its rival, the Congress-headed UDF, on Wednesday were upbeat on forming the government, while the BJP-led NDA expressed hopes of becoming a prominent third front. Polling to elect 140 MLAs to the 15th Kerala Legislative Assembly was held on Tuesday. A 74.02 per cent voter turnout was recorded, as per the preliminary assessment by the Election Commission. The final voting percentage is yet to be published. (PTI)

On the polling day, double voting emerged as a major issue in the border constituency of Udumbanchola. Situation was also tense in Nedumkandam and Cumbummettu areas. In Nedumkandam, police registered cases against12 people for attempting to cast double votes. BJP workers blocked a jeep carrying 12 people, including eight women, at Pattathimukku near Kombayar in Nedumkandam. The occupants said they were going to Tamil Nadu to attend a funeral. However, Idukki DCC president Ibrahimkutty Kallar said there was no funeral in their area. Meanwhile, BJP workers alleged that they found cotton and liquid used for removing the indelible ink in the vehicle.

Even though her granddaughter gave her a hand, Thressiamma, who is aged above 80, struggled to get out of the auto-rickshaw in front of the polling booth at Kalamassery GHSS. Though she had applied for postal ballot, her name has not appeared in it forcing her to come all the way to the booth. “I have not missed a single vote in my life and I don’t want to miss this time too,” she said while climbing the ramp to the booth with the help of a walking stick.

When asked about the overall polling scene in Kochi constituency, Joseph Arackal, an elderly person from Chellanam said, “I and my family did not vote this time as we decided to boycott the election in protest against political parties’ failure to resolve the sea erosion along the West Kochi coast. Like us, many did not cast their vote as there was no use in voting for those who doesn’t care for our safety.” Such decisions by voters like Arackal could be one of the reasons for lower poll percentage of around 70% (as per the latest PRD update) in Kochi constituency this time compared to 72.24% in 2016 assembly election. Kochi, where the fight is more intense this time, witnessed the second lowest polling percentage in the district after Ernakulam.

The southern districts in Kerala reported a stark decline in voting percentage, leaving political parties and pundits guessing its impact in this election. Pathanamthitta, the cauldron of agitations against tweaking tradition and customs in Sabarimala, recorded a voter turnout of only 67.18%. The hilly district had recorded 72.53% during 2016 elections. The poll percentage in 2011, when UDF government came to power, was 71.66.

CG Rajagopal, also known as Muthu, the NDA candidate in Kochi, has filed a complaint with the returning officer and the election observer stating that the Form 7A and voting machine did not feature his ‘smiling photo’ though he had submitted one to the poll authorities. He said instead, the voting machine had a picture of him with a serious face. His smiling face was his identity among the voters and the photos of all other candidates photos showed “them smiling with shining teeth”. He demanded action against the officials for not putting up the photo he wanted on the EVM.

Despite the unsavoury comments from sitting MLA O Rajagopal, Nemom witnessed a fierce triangular fight while Kazhakkoottam witnessed a high-voltage direct battle between CPM and BJP. BJP cadres in both constituencies were visibly upset over the MLA’s cold response to the media when his opinion was sought on BJP’s prospects in Nemom. The leader, who expected another term here, told reporters that he was not in a position to predict the result.

Polling in the five districts in Malabar largely remained peaceful except for stray incidents of clashes in a few places and allegations of mass fake voting raised by UDF in Thaliparamba constituency in Kannur. Continuing with the tradition of throwing up impressive percentage in the state, the districts of Kozhikode and Kannur emerged as the top districts in the state in terms of voter turnout with polling percentages of 78.4 and 77.78 respectively as per tentative Election Commission figures though they were short of the 2016 figures.

The day the state went to the polls, Sabarimala became a hot topic notwithstanding the attempts by LDF to keep the issue on the backburner. On Tuesday, hardly one hour into the polling, NSS general secretary G Sukumaran Nair fired the first salvo saying that the people of the state want a regime change and urged people to vote for those who protect faith. Reacting to Nair’s statements, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said all Gods, including Lord Ayyappa, are with the LDF government. “Ayyappa and other Gods… are with this government because it has protected all the people. The Gods have always remained with those who do good for the people,” he said while speaking after casting his vote at the R C Amala Basic UP School in Pinarayi.

After carefully dodging attempts by opposition to make Sabarimala a key issue throughout the election campaign, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan thrust Sabarimala to the centre stage on polling day. Responding to NSS general secretary G Sukumaran Nair's statement that believers still harboured resentment against the LDF government, the CM said: "Lord Ayyappa, the presiding deity of Sabarimala temple, and other gods are with the LDF government... The gods have always remained with those who do good for the people." Nair said the people of the state wanted change and urged them to vote for those who "protect social justice and religious faith".

Kerala went to the polls on Tuesday to elect its 15th legislative assembly, registering a turnout of 74.2% that fell 2.8% short of the last assembly elections in 2016 (77.35%), which election commission sources attributed to the Covid-19 situation. The southern districts – epicentre of the Sabarimala agitation and its emotional aftermath – reported a decline in voting percentage, leaving political parties and pundits guessing over its impact in the election. Sabarimala, interestingly, resurfaced on electionday as the main political topic with the opposition proclaiming that religious faith had been under threat from the LDF govt and the CM retorting that believers of all faiths themselves thought otherwise.

The Kerala assembly poll is going to create a milestone in the state's political history, said Union Minister V Muraleedharan on Tuesday after casting his vote at the Kottaram polling station in Ulloor. "This poll is going to create a sort of milestone in the political history of Kerala. People will express their dissatisfaction and reject both United Democratic Front and Left Democratic Front alliances," the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader told ANI.