Palakkad, 20 November (H.S.):

The voting for the Palakkad by-election, which Kerala has been eagerly waiting for, has ended. When the last report was received, the voting had crossed 70 percent. The highest voting was in Palakkad Municipality. The lowest was in Kannadi Grama Panchayat.

The voting percentage last time was 74 percent. There are 10 candidates in the fray, including UDF, LDF and NDA candidates.

The total number of voters in Palakkad constituency is 1,94,706. Voting was held in 184 polling booths set up for the election. The official figures for this will be released by the Election Commission soon. The counting of votes will be held on November 23.

The long queues at the booths in the first hour reduced by noon, but the polling improved by the evening. Long queues of people coming to vote can be seen in many places in the last lap. In the 2021 assembly elections, 75 percent of the people cast their votes in Palakkad.

The BJP has fielded Krishnakumar, a local leader with significant support in the region, as its candidate. Although former BJP spokesperson Sandeep Warrier left the party and joined the Congress in the middle of the election, public sentiment against Sandeep has turned favorable for the BJP.

Youth Congress president Rahul Mangkootatil is the Congress candidate. Despite being a popular face, his candidature faced some opposition within the party as he was not a local candidate. Congress's social media person Sarin had left the party in protest against Rahul's candidature. He later became the LDF candidate.

Left (LDF): Former Congress leader Dr. P. Sarin is switching to the CPI(M) and contesting as an independent candidate supported by the Left.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Manoj Kumar Tayal