Thiruvananthapuram: With all ready for Monday's bypolls to five Kerala assembly constituencies -- Vatiyoorkavu, Aroor, Konni, Ernakulam and Manjeswaram, what remains to be seen is - would the rain god play spoilsport?
The IMD weather forecast for Monday is a yellow alert indicating more than moderate rains and if it turns out to be true, then barring Manjeswaram in Kasargode district, all the remaining four constituencies are located in yellow alert areas, and could see rains, which in turn could lead to a not so enthusiastic turnout.
Barring Aroor, the other four seats are held by the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) at present. Historically, the general perception in the state is if there is low voter turnout, the beneficiary is the CPI-M led LDF and affects the Congress-led UDF, as their not so die-hard voters prefer to remain indoors.
With a yellow alert already in force for Sunday and raining hard, candidates of the three political fronts were seen engaged in last minute hectic campaigning by visiting Churches, meeting voters individually at their homes and making a bee line to wedding halls and the homes of death.
On Monday, some 9,57,509 voters, including 4,91,455 women, 4,66,047 men and seven transgenders, will decide the fate of 35 candidates by casting their votes at 846 polling stations. Polling will be held from 7 a.m to 6.30 p.m on Monday.
