Thiruvananthapuram, April 10 (IANS) Brisk polling was Thursday reported across the 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala, with over 21 percent of the electorate casting their ballots within three hours.
Kannur topped the voting with 24 percent, while over 19 percent ballots were polled in the capital, according to the Kerala chief electoral officer's website.
In the 2009 election, the first hour of polling recorded a mere four percent votes.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and his family cast their votes in Puthupally in Kottayam.
Chandy later told reporters he was confident that the electorate would give his government a "good victory" on account of its performance.
"Now that the process has begun, I do not wish to speculate on what our tally would be. But I can tell you one thing, there seems to be a very positive vibe towards our candidates and we will come out with flying colours," said Chandy.
Defence Minister A.K. Antony and his family cast their votes in a booth near their home in the Kerala capital.
"This time, the UDF will get more seats than the previous poll. And this time too, the BJP will not open its account in Kerala," Antony said.
In the outgoing Lok Sabha, the Congress-led United Democratic Front had 16 seats, while the CPI-M-led Left Democratic Front had four. The BJP is yet to open its Lok Sabha account in Kerala, and the party also does not have any presence in the 140-member state assembly.
Enthusiasm to cast votes was evident across the state, as people started to queue up much before polling began at 7 a.m.
Coastal areas, especially the state capital district and Alappuzha, saw huge crowds.
As many as 55 companies of security personnel drawn from outside the state have been deployed across Kerala.
CPI-M state secretary Pinnarayi Vijayan said people will teach the UDF a lesson this time, and claimed the sentiment was evident from the manner in which the electorate turned up in large numbers.
Election officials have identified 10 percent of the total 21,424 polling booths as critical - most of them are in Kannur, Kozhikode and Kasargode districts.
In 2009, Kerala recorded 73.37 percent voter turnout.
Kerala's 24.2 million strong electorate has to choose representatives from 242 male candidates and 27 female candidates.
Rohit Sharma : 'The wicket on which he grew up playing, had to play well there', Rohit gave a class to Indian batsmen
India got defeated by 21 runs in the third ODI against Australia. With this defeat, Team India also lost the ODI series by 2-1. Captain Rohit Sharma looked very angry after the defeat. In the
Omicron's new variant BA-2 found in India: Confirmed in 16 patients including 4 children in Indore, 530 samples were sent from across the country for testing
The threat of another variant of the virus is looming amidst the Omicron version of Corona wreaking havoc all over the world. This variant has been named BA-2. Omicron's sub-variant BA-2 has knocked
Arvind Kejriwal Arrest: AAP faces leadership crisis, Kejriwal will rule from jail or one of them will take command
As evening approaches, high voltage drama has started in Delhi. The Enforcement Directorate team reached the Chief Minister's residence on Flag Road and started interrogating Chief Minister Arvind
Anupam Kher On Kaali Controversy: Anupam Kher took a jibe at Leena Manimekalai? Said- Jai Kali Calcutta, your curse...
Anupam Kher On Leena Manimekalai: The atmosphere of the film Kaali is very hot. From social media to different parts of the country, the poster of film director Leena Manimekalai's documentary Kali is
Delhi Air Pollution: Delhi's air became 'very bad', AQI crossed 300 in these areas including Anand Vihar
The people of Delhi are having to breathe poisonous air. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the air quality is not improving. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Delhi's average air quality
Modi government's 'digital strike' on fake news, 8 YouTube channels blocked
Fake news has become the biggest challenge for the government in this era of social media. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Central Government continues to take action against it.
Dhiraj Sahu: IT got important clues from Dhiraj Sahu's hideouts, notes can be linked to hawala operators and shell companies.
The figure of the huge amount recovered by the Income Tax Department from liquor companies, residential complexes and company officials of Congress Rajya Sabha member from Jharkhand, Dhir Prasad Sahu,
Foreign Currency Reserve: Foreign exchange reserves decreased for the sixth consecutive week, know how much gold reserve is left?
There has been a decrease in the foreign currency assets of the country again. It has registered a decline for the sixth consecutive week. Due to this the total foreign exchange reserves of the
Parliament productivity highest in decade: Venkaiah Naidu
Hyderabad, March 23 (IANS) Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Monday claimed that the productivity of Parliament during the first phase of the current budget session was the
Madhya Pradesh: Uncontrolled bus fall with 54 passengers collapsed in canal, painful death of 30 people, rescue operations continue
On Tuesday morning, a bus uncontrolled and fell into the canal in the direct region of Madhya Pradesh. So far, 30 people have been reported dead in this accident. There were about 54 people on the
