Brisk voting was underway in all of Kerala's 20 Lok Sabha constituencies on Thursday morning, where the main contest is between the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF).
Heavy polling was reported in cities across the state and especially in the coastal areas, with more than five percent votes having been cast in cities and four percent in rural areas at the end of the first hour.
A total of 217 candidates are in the fray while the electorate comprises 21,865,324 voters, of which 11,337,483 are women.
As many as 20,508 polling booths were set up and 24,377 electronic voting machines (EVMs) and 22,972 control units were being used.
Reports from across the state indicate that there have been no major incidents or problems during the voting yet.
Emerging after casting his vote at Trissur, nonagenarian Congress leader K Karunakaran said the UDF will do extremely well.
"This time there has been no problems within the UDF and it is a very positive sign," he said.
Soon state Revenue Minister KP Rajendran arrived to cast his vote and exchanged pleasantries with Karunakaran, asking him not to forget the Communist Party of India (CPI) candidate Jayadevan.
{{/usCountry}}Soon state Revenue Minister KP Rajendran arrived to cast his vote and exchanged pleasantries with Karunakaran, asking him not to forget the Communist Party of India (CPI) candidate Jayadevan.
{{/usCountry}}Malayalam film superstar Suresh Gopi, who cancelled a foreign trip with his family in view of the poll, arrived early in the morning here to cast his vote.
Casting his vote at his home town in Kannur, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan said the UDF is worried about what is happening because the LDF is going to have an easy win.