Thiruvananthapuram, April 9 Voting in the Kerala Assembly elections saw a turnout of over 16 per cent after the first two hours of voting on Thursday.
According to Election Commission (EC) figures, polling till 9 am recorded a turnout of 16.23 per cent, with the highest being in the Ernakulam district at 17.8 per cent.
On a constituency-by-constituency basis, the highest polling percentage was seen in Thripunithura at 20.59 per cent, according to EC data.
The ruling LDF is striving to retain power and secure a third consecutive term, relying on the governance and welfare model of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. 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 LDF and UDF duopoly and aims to translate its growing vote share into a decisive presence in the state assembly.
Voting in all 140 Assembly constituencies in Kerala commenced at 7 am on Thursday after the mock poll.
People started arriving early in the morning at the 30,495 polling stations across the state to avoid the hot weather that was expected to worsen throughout the day.
Among those who cast their votes in the morning were Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Leader of Opposition in the state assembly V D Satheesan, Union Minister of State Suresh Gopi, KPCC chief Sunny Joseph, and actor Mohanlal.
Voting was carried out under tight security arrangements, including the deployment of over 76,000 security personnel and live monitoring of the election process by an extensive webcasting system.
Around 2.71 crore voters will decide the fate of the 883 candidates contesting from the 140 Assembly constituencies in the state.
The electorate comprises 1.32 crore men, 1.39 crore women, and 273 transgender persons, along with over 2.42 lakh overseas voters, according to EC figures.
