Polling begins in Kerala's Palakkad Assembly constituency

Palakkad: Voting in the by-poll for the Palakkad Assembly constituency in Kerala commenced at 7 am on Wednesday.

People began arriving early in the morning at the 184 polling booths across the constituency, which has over 1.9 lakh voters who will cast their votes to elect a representative from among 10 candidates.

Among the 10, the key contenders are Rahul Mamkootathil (Congress-led UDF), C. Krishnakumar (BJP-led NDA), and P. Sarin (CPI(M)-led LDF).

The by-election was necessitated after Congress leader Shafi Parambil resigned as MLA of the constituency following his election to the Lok Sabha from Vadakara during the general elections.

Polling commenced amidst tight security arrangements, including the deployment of central security forces and police, along with live monitoring of the by-election process through an extensive webcasting system.

Of the bypolls -- for one Lok Sabha and two Assembly seats -- scheduled in the state in November, the campaigning for the Palakkad constituency witnessed several controversies.

These included allegations of black money against the UDF candidate, BJP leader Sandeep Varier’s defection to the Congress, and the CPI(M) publishing negative advertisements in newspapers regarding Varier's inclusion in the grand old party.

The Palakkad constituency holds significant importance for the Congress-led UDF, not only for retaining the seat but also because their rival LDF candidate, Sarin, is the former digital media convener of the KPCC.

Sarin was expelled from the Congress after he criticised the party's decision to select state Youth Congress president Mamkootathil as its candidate for the Palakkad bypoll.