Thiruvananthapuram: A 33 per cent voter turnout was witnessed in the first four hours of polling in Kerala Assembly elections on Thursday, officials said.
The crucial elections will decide whether the ruling LDF will get a straight third term, or if the UDF makes a comeback, or if BJP springs a surprise in an otherwise bipolar battle.
According to Election Commission (EC) figures, by 11 am, 33.28 per cent of the voters had cast their vote.
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.
At 11 am, Ernakulam district led with the highest polling percentage with 35.86 per cent turnout, according to EC figures.
Constituency-wise, the highest polling percentage till 11 am was seen in Thripunithura with 40.6 per cent and lowest in Vengara with 33.28 per cent.
Polling in all the 140 Assembly constituencies in Kerala commenced at 7 am.
The political leaders and prominent personalities who cast their votes in the morning included CM Vijayan, Leader of Opposition in the state assembly V D Satheesan, Union Minister of State Suresh Gopi, KPCC chief Sunny Joseph and actor Mohanlal.
Polling was carried out amidst tight security arrangements which included deployment of over 76,000 security personnel and live monitoring of the election process by an extensive webcasting system.
(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
