Kerala records 73.33% polling

Kerala recorded an impressive voter turn-out of 73.33 per cent in the Lok Sabha
elections, surpassing the 71.45 per cent clocked in 2004.

The initial impression based on the early estimates by officials after the polling ended in all the 20 seats in the state last evening was that the polling percentage was around
68 per cent, creating anxiety among political parties, especially in the Congress-led UDF.

As per the final figures released by the EC on Friday, the highest voting was recorded in Kannur (80.92 per cent) followed by Vatakara (80.45) -- both constituencies in
politically hyper-active Malabar region in North Kerala.

Thiruvananthapuram, which was witness to a high profile fight between former UN Under Secretary General Shashi Tharoor and CPI's P Ramachandran Nair, recorded the lowest turn-out of 65.73 per cent voting.

The state's poll percentage had never gone below 70 since 1984 and it had always been over 60 per cent since the first general elections in 1951, EC officials said. The highest ever turn out of 79.30 in the Lok Sabha polls was recorded in 1989, when the Congress and its allies swept the elections lifting 17 of the 20 seats.

In 1977, the state recorded 79.20 per cent voter turnout, helping the Congress and its partners to win all 20 seats. Ironically, this happened when the Congress suffered a washout in most other parts of the country.

The LDF swept the polls winning 18 seats, routing Congress last time when the state recorded 71.45 per cent.