The capital district on Tuesday recorded a significant fall in polling percentage for local body polls compared to the previous ones held in 2015.
The district had then registered 71.9%, which was incidentally the lowest in the State during the 2015 local body elections. The The State average was then 77.76%.
This time, the percentage, according to official statistics issued by the district administration at 8.30 p.m., was lower at 69.72% for Thiruvananthapuram. As many as 19,78,730 people cast their votes across the district. Garnering a total of 4,79,415 votes, the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation also recorded a poll percentage of 59.72%, also significantly lower than the turnout of 62.9% that had been witnessed last time. Mulloor (74.44%), Punchakkari (72.76%) and Harbour (71.26%) registered the highest poll percentages among the 100 wards of the Corporation.
The average polling percentage for the four municipalities in the district also fell considerably from 76.47% to 72.04%. The highest percentage of 74.69% was recorded in the Neyyattinkara municipality with 48,157 voters exercising their franchise. The corresponding figures in the other municipalities were: Nedumangad 72.88% (40,818), Varkala 71.23% (23,498) and Attingal 69.36% (22,652).
The block panchayats recorded polling percentages as follows: Vellanad 74.54% (1,50,910), Nedumangad 71.54% (1,13,171), Vamanapuram 71.34% (1,38,501), Parassala 74.74% (1,25,055), Chirayinkeezhu 72.89% (95,047), Varkala 72.3% (98,411), Kilimanoor 74.39% (1,34,018), Perunkadavila 77.06% (1,37,222), Athiyannoor 76.11% (95,021), Nemom 73.82% (1,73,171) and Pothencode 72.46% (1,03,572).
Among the 73 grama panchayats, the highest poll percentages were recorded in Perunkadavila (81.5%), Kottukal (78.47%), Kulathoor (78.15%), Kallikadu (77.7%) and Kunnathukal (77.47%).
The elections passed off largely peacefully in the district, barring some isolated incidents of altercations. Activists of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and United Democratic Front (UDF) were engaged in a minor clash in the Government Lower Primary School, Thumba, following allegations of vote canvassing. The incident prompted the police to adopt forceful methods to disperse the activists from the polling station.
Arrested
One person, identified as Mustafa, was arrested following complaints of bogus voting in the Palayam ward of Thiruvananthapuram Corporation. He was arrested on the basis of the complaint submitted by the agent of the UDF candidate in the ward.
An Independent candidate, who contested from the Kottukalkonam ward in Balaramapuram grama panchayat, succumbed to COVID-19 in a hospital by around 4 p.m., the police said.
