In Kerala’s Kannur, snake in VVPAT machine disrupts polling

The snake disrupted voting for ten minutes before it was put in a bag and disposed.

Polling at a booth north Kerala’s in Mayyil in Kannur was disrupted for a while, not because of EVM malfunction or any disturbance, but because a snake had made a VVPAT machine its home.

Polling officials suspect the snake might have entered the booth on Monday night when the machines were kept there. (HT PHOTO)

The snake, a common krait, came out of the machine when brisk polling was on triggering panic among voters and officials alike. It was removed quickly and let off in a secluded place to enable voting to continue.

“We were really shocked. But some people came ahead and put it in a bag and disposed it quickly,” a polling official said.

Voting was disrupted for ten minutes. Polling officials have no idea how the reptile crept into the machine and suspect it might have entered the booth on Monday night when the machines were kept there. In Kannur sitting MP P K Sreemathi of the CPI (M) is seeking re-election. K Sudhakaran of the Congress and the BJP’s C K Padmanabhan are her main rivals.

All of Kerala’s 20 Lok Sabha seats went to polls in the third phase of the elections on Tuesday and the state recorded a turnout of 71.96%.

It remains to be seen whether the BJP’s attempts to consolidate Hindu votes, by raising the spectre of a tradition under attack in Sabarimala, will gain much ground in a state that has usually witnessed a bipolar contest between the Congress-led United Democratic Front and the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s decision to contest from a second seat – Wayanad – raised the poll fever in the southern state.