George Kurian Votes, Predicts "Great Mandate" for NDA in Kerala Polls

Kurian, who cast his vote at a polling station in Kottayam Kanakkary Government Higher Secondary School, stated that the NDA leaders have requested the people to vote in favour of the alliance.

"We are expecting a great mandate for NDA in Kerala and we are requesting the people to vote in favour of NDA," he told ANI.

This comes amid the ongoing polling across 140 seats in Keralam, which began earlier in the day.

In Keralam, over 2.6 crore electors will decide the fate of 883 candidates across 140 constituencies. Of the 2,69,53,644 registered voters across the state, there are 1,38,27,319 women voters and the number of male voters stands at 1,31,26,048.

Officials said 277 voters have been registered in the 'third gender category.'Among the electorate, nearly 4,24,518 voters fall in the 18-19 age group, while 2,04,608 voters are aged 85 years and above

To facilitate safe and secure polling, a total of 30,471 polling stations have been set up, which comprise 119 logistic and voter machine distribution centres and 41 vote counting centres.

Keralam Chief Electoral Officer Rathan U Kelkar on Tuesday said that 1.46 lakh trained polling personnel had been dispatched to polling stations.

"As part of the arrangements for Kerala Assembly elections, we have the total electorate of 2.71 crores, and the service voters are 53,984... We will be counting the votes in 140 strong rooms and 43 locations. We have 1.46 lakh polling personnel who have been trained and will be dispatched to all the polling stations," he said

"We have FIRs against 180 people in terms of election-related activities, and more than 1,200 police teams are very actively working in the field... We are ensuring that all the new initiatives by the Election Commission are implemented properly," he added.

The election is seen as a contest between the ruling LDF and opposition UDF, with the BJP-led NDA, which has been gaining vote share, also hopeful of its prospects in the southern state.

Left Democratic Front holds 99 seats in the current assembly and is aiming for a third consecutive term based on its performance and welfare schemes. The LDF created a record in 2021 as it retained the southern state, which, over the decades, has seen power alternating between the coalitions led by CPI(M) and Congress.

- ANI