Lok Sabha elections 2019: A break from bipolar contests in Kerala?
It remains to be seen whether the BJP’s attempts to consolidate the 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.
After witnessing weeks of live wire campaigning, with political heavyweights like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah, Congress general secretary for East Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Congress president Rahul Gandhi — who made his electoral debut in south India by contesting his second seat from Wayanad constituency — visiting the state, Kerala’s 20 Lok Sabha seats went to polls in the third phase of the elections and saw a turnout of 71.96%.
It remains to be seen whether the BJP’s attempts to consolidate the 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.
Inclement weather, reports of glitches in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), and a reptile scare were some of the incidents that marked voting day.
At least six persons, many of them senior citizens, died while waiting to cast their votes in different parts of the state.
In Thiruvananthapuram, a case was registered against a person who complained malfunctioning of the EVM as after a scrutiny his complaint was found to be false.
