Record 77.35% voters exercise franchise in Kerala bypoll

An estimated 77.35% voters exercised their franchise in the Aruvikkara Assembly seat bypoll, which saw ruling Congress-led UDF and opposition CPI(M)-headed LDF locked in a fierce battle.

In the final count released by the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, the polling percentage was stated as 77.35 in the bypolls held on Saturday.

During the 2011 state Assembly polls, the polling percentage in the constituency was 70.61.

While Arayanadu Panchayat in the constituency recorded the highest percentage of 79.07, in the Tholicode panchayat the percentage of voter turnout was 74.83% and in the Aruvikkara panchayat it was 78.22%.

With the record turnout, both the fronts are optimistic that the outcome would be in their favour. Despite heavy rains lashing the constituency, there was a large turnout of voters, including women who comprise 97,533 of the total electorate of 1,84,210.

The bypoll was necessitated following the death of former Speaker G Karthikeyan, who represented the segment (previously known as Aryanad), in the state Assembly from 1991 to 2015.

In a three-cornered contest, UDF candidate KS Sabarinath, younger son of Karthikeyan, was pitted against former Speaker and ex-minister M Vijaykumar (LDF) and former Union Minister O Rajagopal of BJP.

The bypoll is a crucial test for both the fronts as panchayat polls are to be held later this year and assembly polls are just a year away from now. The counting will be held on June 30.