Polling progresses in last phase elections

Thiruvananthapuram, May 3 : An estimated 40 per cent of the electorate exercised their franchise in Kannur district while the polling percentage was only 25 per cent as polling progressed in the two districts in the third and final phase of Kerala Assembly elections.

Election Commission sources said baring minor incidents, the polling was by and large peaceful in the politically volatile districts.

In Kannur district, even from the start of the polling, long queues were seen outside polling stations. In Kasargode, though polling started in a low note, it had gained momentum.

A Communist Party of India (Marxist) activist was arrested in Kollapad in Irikur constituency for throwing a cracker near the house of a booth agent of the United Democratic Front candidate.

Taking into account the volatile situation, elaborate security arrangements had been made to ensure law and order and a peaceful polling, as most of the 2,373 polling booths in the two districts with an electorate of 24.08 lakh had been identified as trouble-prone.

Police personnel drawn from Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan had been deployed in large numbers for security arrangements.

UNI