LS polls: Kerala records 11.61 per cent by 9 AM

Kerala recorded 11.61per cent voting till 9 AM Tuesday in the 20 Lok Sabha constituencies of the state, where Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Shashi Tharoor and Union minister, Alphons Kannamthanam are the key contenders.

Though complaints of technical glitches in voting machines were reported in some places, majority of polling stations witnessed heavy rush and long queues since morning.

Cutting across cities and villages, women, senior citizens and first-time electors turned up in large numbers to exercise their francise in the initial hours.

According to Election Commission sources, Palakkad witnessed the highest voting percentage at 9 AM--12.64, while Ponnani in Malappuram registered the lowest- 9.74 per cent.

The high profile Wayanad contituency, where Congress chief Rahul Gandhi is seeking mandate, witnessed 11.87 per cent so far, they said.

State Governor P Sathasivam, Chief minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chenntithala, former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Malayalam superstars Mohanlal and Mammootty were among the early voters.

Candidates P K Kunhalikutty (Malappuram), N K Premachandran (Kollam), Hibi Eden (Ernakulam), Dean Kuriakose (Idukki) and Innocent (Chalakudy) also cast their votes early.

Glitches in voting machines in some polling booths have been reported in the initial hours of voting in Cherthala in Alappuzha district and Kovalam in the state capital.

After exercising his franchise at Pinarayi in northern Kannur, Vijayan, told reporters that there was some problem in the voting machine in his booth and in two other places nearby.

Issues relating to the voting machines have been reported from various other places in the state also, he said adding the Election Commission should have ensured that the machines were free of any glitches.

However, Chief Electoral Officer Teeka Ram Meena dismissed the reports of widespread technical issues in the voting machines and said only isolated cases were reported.

"The technical glitches of the sensitive voting machines is nothing new.. there were rains in many places last night and the issues could have been due to that," he said.

The respective district collectors have been instructed to rectifiy the issues, he said adding there is no need for any anxiety.

The three major fronts-- ruling CPI(M)-led LDF, Opposition Congress headed UDF and the BJP-NDA had put up a fierce fight in many constituencies.

A total of 227 candidates are in the fray in the state, including 23 women.

Wayanad constituency has the maximum number of candidates-- 20 and the lowest are in Alathur in Palakkad district (6).

There are a total of 2.61 crore voters-- 1,26,81,992 males, 1,34,64,688 females and 173 third gender voters.

The strength of first time voters in Kerala is 2.88 lakh in the age group of 18-19.

The polling would end at6 PM in 24,970 polling stations.