High Voter Turnout Marks Kerala Bypolls in Wayanad and Chelakkara

The voter turnout in Kerala's Wayanad Lok Sabha and Chelakkara assembly bypolls surpassed 50% after nearly eight hours of voting. Held under tight security, the process was largely incident-free, except for some electronic voting machine failures. Emotional reunions marked the event, particularly for landslide survivors.

The voter turnout in the Wayanad Lok Sabha and Chelakkara assembly bypolls in Kerala reached over 50% after nearly eight hours of voting on Wednesday.

By 3.10 pm, the Wayanad constituency recorded 50.63% turnout, while Chelakkara reached 50.86% by 2.50 pm. The election process, conducted under stringent security, was mostly problem-free, aside from electronic voting machine malfunctions in a few booths, which were swiftly resolved by election officials.

Emotional scenes unfolded at polling stations designated for landslide survivors in Wayanad, as they were reunited with neighbors and friends. Special transport was arranged to help them reach polling stations from temporary residences. Early-morning arrivals were observed at 1,354 polling booths in Wayanad, where over 14 lakh voters are registered. The bypoll was prompted by Rahul Gandhi vacating the seat after winning another constituency. In Chelakkara, UDF's Haridas faced LDF's Pradeep and NDA's Balakrishnan.

(With inputs from agencies.)