Three alliances, the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF), the United Democratic Front (UDF) and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), are pitted against each other in the Assembly elections being held in Kerala on Tuesday.
Voting started at 7 am and will conclude at 7 pm. There are 957 candidates in the fray in the 140 assembly constituencies. The counting of votes will be held on May 2.
As per the Election Commission, the final voter list for the assembly elections has 2,74,46,039 voters. There are 1,32,83,724 male voters, 1,41,62,025 female voters and 290 transgender voters.
COVID guidelines
People battling from COVID-19 will be allowed to vote in the last hour of polling on Tuesday during the Kerala assembly elections.
The COVID-19 patients, and those in quarantine, will be allowed to vote in the last one hour of polling while wearing PPE kits.
Before allowing voters to enter booths, their temperature will be checked and hand sanitisers will be given.
Kerala Assembly Elections 2021
Kerala heads in for Assembly elections on Tuesday with battle lines drawn between the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) which hopes for continuity of term, and the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) even as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is being seen as a potential threat in many places.
The presence of the BJP, which is positioning itself as a political alternative with candidates like the Metroman ‘E Sreedharan’ will impact the attempts made by both the LDF and the UDF to swing the constituencies to their favour.
A string of high profile campaigners like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Smriti Irani, Nirmala Sitharaman Union Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, CPI(M) leaders Brinda Karat, Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury, and many more national leaders campaigned for their parties.
The state is ruled by the Left Democratic Front (LDF), which had won 91 seats in the 2016 Assembly elections defeating the United Democratic Front that bagged only 47 seats.