Southern States - Kerala   

62.5 p.c. polling in Ernakulam

By Our Special Correspondent

KOCHI SEPT. 23. Altogether 62.56 per cent of the voters exercised their franchise for the Ernakulam Lok Sabha byelection today. The polling was by and large peaceful.

The polling was slow in the beginning, but picked up momentum around noon. In the last two hours, there was hectic polling. Among the Assembly segments, Aluva reported the highest polling, and Mattancherry accounted for the lowest turnout. The initial trend was reflective of the public apathy, especially the indifference exhibited by the youth, towards the poll. One explanation is the lack of any serious issues in the by-poll with a short tenure of less than a year for the general elections.

During the first two hours of polling, only 15 per cent of the 10.86 lakh voters had cast their votes. By noon, the figure rose to 24.87 per cent. Though the political parties expected the polling to gain momentum in the afternoon, it progressed at a snail's pace to reach 39.45 per cent by 2 p.m.

Though the police had apprehended trouble between the two warring factions of the Congress, there were no major incidents. The police, however, had to intervene to separate two groups of Congress workers who clashed at Mattancherry over canvassing of votes for the LDF candidate.

Polling in the Kalamassery and Aluva areas, where the UDF candidate is expected to poll substantial votes, was thin during the morning hours. However, it picked up momentum during the afternoon.

The Assembly constituency break-up of polling percentage: Paravur-65.08, Njarackal-65.87, Ernakulam-55.9, Mattancherry-52.8, Palluruthy-63.3 and Thripunithura-65.9.

There were seven candidates in the fray including the LDF Independent, Sebastian Paul, the UDF candidate, M.O. John, and V. Viswanatha Menon, a former CPI(M) candidate contesting as an Independent with the backing of the BJP and a forum of CPI(M) rebels.

The open conflict between Congress factions owing allegiance to the Chief Minister, A.K. Antony, and his arch rival, K. Karunakaran, over selection of the candidate imparted a piquant dimension to the poll. Mr. Karunakaran not only refused to campaign for the Mr. John, but his supporters allegedly openly canvassed for Mr. Paul. The high command's warning of disciplinary action did not deter him this time

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