E-Paper
Palakkad records 69.8% voter turnout
A total of 1,94,000 people were eligible to vote in the by-election necessitated by the resignation of sitting Congress MLA Shafi Parambil who was elected to Lok Sabha this year.
The voter turnout in the key Palakkad assembly bypoll in Kerala crossed 69.8%, as per the voter turnout app at 11.30 pm.
Polling passed off peacefully across the 184 polling booths in the constituency which has a mix of rural and urban voters.
A total of 1,94,000 people were eligible to vote in the by-election necessitated by the resignation of sitting Congress MLA Shafi Parambil who was elected to Lok Sabha this year.
There were 10 candidates in the fray, of which Rahul Mamkootathil of the UDF, C Krishnakumar of the NDA and P Sarin of the LDF were key names.
The constituency, which has seen fierce triangular contests in the last 10 years, was won by the UDF three times since 2011.
In 2021 assembly election, the constituency saw a close contest between Parambil of the UDF and E Sreedharan of the BJP. Parambil eventually won by over 3,800 votes. The LDF candidate was in the third position.
The bypoll campaign saw two key defections this time — P Sarin from Congress to CPI(M) and Sandeep Varier from BJP to Congress — around which the narratives mainly swirled.
The votes in the Palakkad bypoll, along with those conducted to Wayanad parliamentary constituency and Chelakkara assembly constituency, will be counted on November 23.
