Puthuppally Assembly bypoll voting concludes; 72.91 per cent turnout recorded

As voting in the by-election for the Puthuppally assembly constituency in Kottayam district of Kerala concluded on Tuesday evening, it saw around 72.91 per cent of the over 1.76 lakh voters turning up to exercise their franchise.

The brisk pace of voting seen in the first half of the day with the turnout crossing 50 per cent by 2 pm, slowed down thereafter and the subsequent, 4-5 hours of polling only saw an additional 22.91 per cent turnout.

After polling concluded, of the 1,76,417 voters, 1,28,624 people -- 64,084 men, 64,538 women and two transgenders -- cast their votes.

The by-election also saw the UDF level allegations of slow polling in some select booths leading to people having to wait for several hours to vote and some also returning home without casting their vote due to the delay.

UDF candidate Chandy Oommen, son of late Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, made the allegation before reporters here and demanded that the matter be looked into.

LDF candidate Jaick C Thomas too was of the view that if there has been delay in the polling process in some booths then the same should be investigated.

He said he was not aware something like that had happened as he did not see such delays at the polling booths visited by him.

As long queues remained outside many polling booths even after 6 pm, when voting was to be concluded, numbered slips were handed to the people already waiting in line so that they could exercise their franchise.

Some other highlights of the bypoll were the setting up of 10 polling stations as 'pink booths' that were decorated with balloons, arches, tablecloths and ribbons of that colour and were manned entirely by female officials and police officers.

Besides that, some polling stations also had facilities to take care of the children, who came along with their parents, under the Systematic Voters Education and Electoral Participation Program (SVEEP) -- an initiative of the Election Commission to encourage more voter turnout.

Children at such polling stations were given toys and balloons to play and snacks were also distributed among them as they waited for their parents to finish voting.

NSS volunteers and Anganwadi workers kept an eye on the children while their parents exercised their franchise.

Men, women and youngsters queued up early in the morning to cast their votes, as polling commenced at 7 am, to decide whether the opposition UDF would retain the seat held by Congress stalwart Chandy for 53 years, or LDF would attain the figure of 100 in the state assembly.

The ruling CPI(M) and the opposition Congress are locked in a fierce battle for the assembly seat representing this constituency that fell vacant after the demise of Chandy who represented the constituency in Kottayam district for more than five decades without any break until his demise on July 18.

The Congress-led opposition UDF fielded Chandy's son, Chandy Oommen, a move that analysts view as an apparent strategy to capitalise on the sympathy wave following the former CM's death.

The ruling Left front, on the other hand, once again decided to go with DYFI leader Jaick C Thomas who had unsuccessfully contested the segment in 2016 and 2021 against the late Chandy.

The BJP has fielded its Kottayam district president, G Lijinlal.

In the present composition of the 2021 Kerala Assembly with a total of 140 seats, the ruling LDF has 99 seats, UDF has 40 seats with one vacant Puthuppally assembly seat.

There are 1,76,417 voters, including 90,281 women, 86,132 men, and four transgenders, in Puthuppally constituency.