Clad in a snow-white personal protection equipment, complete with a face shield and turquoise blue gloves, Nidhish stepped out of his white car which he carefully drove into the courtyard of the Vennala High School.
It was around 5.40 p.m.
The school premises, which were bustling with activity till a few hours ago, wore a deserted look. Barring a few agents of candidates and some last-minute voters, no one was around.
After waiting in the vehicle for a few minutes, T.C. Subramaniyan and his brother-in-law Prathapan, too stepped out of the vehicle.
The polling officer, who made some quick arrangements inside the polling station to facilitate the COVID-positive voters to exercise their franchise, called out Mr. Pratapan. He walked into the polling station to vote in the machine that was turned towards the entrance. And it made a beep sound.
Caution thrown to wind
Thousands of city residents queued up before polling booths from the early hours of the day to elect their civic representatives, often throwing caution to the wind. Physical-distancing norms went up in smoke in most of the polling stations as people stood close to each other exchanging pleasantries.
The only solace was the scene of voters using hand sanitisers provided by officials inside the booth as they waited for their names to be called.
Voters could be seen forming groups among themselves and engaging in animated conversations at a booth set up at MMO VHSS at Moulana Azad Road at Panayappally. Voting was held up for some time in a booth at the school as the machine developed a glitch. Voting resumed after the machine was replaced.
“It was impossible to ask voters to maintain social distancing as the crowd was swelling every minute,” said a police officer who was posted at a booth at Thoppumpady.
The morning hours witnessed heavy voter turnout in most of the booths and over 30% of the votes were polled within three hours. Women too turned up at booths enthusiastically in large numbers and waited patiently for their turn to vote. Most of the voters carried pens with them to sign election-related documents.
Tense moments
Some anxious moments unfolded at a booth at Vennala when a voter, who was listed as a COVID patient, turned up in person to vote. Realising the folly, the presiding officer raised an alarm to send him home, said a polling agent of a candidate.
The young and the aged one, accompanied by their relatives, could be seen coming to polling booths across the city. Police personnel and voters who stood in queue were seen making way for the elderly to vote.