Thiruvananthapuram
On Friday, Kerala will hold Lok Sabha elections, with 194 candidates vying for 20 seats. The Election Commission says over 2.75 crore voters are eligible to cast ballots starting at 7 am. This election has over five lakh first-time voters among the 2,77,49,159 total voters.
The campaign leading up to the election was intense, with the CPI(M)-led LDF, Congress-headed UDF, and BJP-led NDA all actively campaigning. The Kottayam constituency has the most candidates, with 14, while Alathur has the fewest, with five. Of the 194 candidates, 169 are men and 25 are women, with Vadakara having the most women candidates at four.
Chief Electoral Officer Sanjay Kaul announced that 63,100 bottles of ink would be used to prevent voter fraud and ensure transparent elections. For security, the Election Commission has deployed 66,303 personnel to maintain order across 25,231 polling booths in 13,272 locations. Kerala Police and Central forces will work together to ensure safety during the election.
The election campaign covered various topics, including the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), ‘love jihad,’ controversies related to ‘The Kerala Story,’ violence in Manipur, and Rahul Gandhi’s candidacy in Wayanad. This broad range of issues drove the high-energy campaign that concluded on Wednesday evening, leading to a quiet day before Friday’s voting.
