Kerala bypolls: Wayanad records 64.71% voter turnout, Chelakkara hits 74.54%

Wayanad/Thrissur: Voter turnout in the Wayanad Lok Sabha and Chelakkara Assembly bypolls in Kerala reached 64.71% and 74.54%, respectively, by 6:45 pm on Wednesday. Voting began at 7 am across 1,354 polling booths in Wayanad and 180 booths in Chelakkara.

In Wayanad, 1,471,742 voters cast their ballots, marking an 8.23% drop compared to the previous election. The turnout percentage by constituency was as follows: Mananthavady (ST)—63.89%, Kalpetta—65.42%, Sulthan Bathery (ST)—62.66%, Thiruvambady—66.39%, Ernad—69.42%, Nilambur—61.91%, and Wandoor—64.43%.

A case of alleged fake voting was reported at booth 168 in Government Vocational Higher Secondary School, Meppadi, where the vote of Nabeesa Abubacker, a resident of the landslide-affected Mundakkai and Chooralmala villages, was allegedly cast by someone else before she arrived at 5 pm.

Though voter turnout was initially low across most polling stations, it picked up in the afternoon, resulting in long queues as the day progressed. Polling concluded last in Tirunelli, Mananthavady constituency.

UDF candidate Priyanka Gandhi actively engaged throughout Wayanad, greeting voters and posing for photos at polling stations. Despite concerns in 11 high-sensitivity polling stations in the Maoist-prone areas, the day remained peaceful, with heightened security provided by Thunderbolt commandos.

The bypoll was necessitated after Rahul Gandhi, who won both the Wayanad and Rae Bareli seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, chose to retain the Uttar Pradesh seat. Priyanka Gandhi (UDF), Sathyan Mokeri (LDF), and Navya Haridas (NDA) are the main contenders among the 16 candidates for the seat.

In Chelakkara, where a bypoll was called after K Radhakrishnan of the LDF vacated the assembly seat upon his election to the Lok Sabha, a total of 213,103 voters were eligible. The main candidates are Remya Haridas (UDF), U R Pradeep (LDF), and K Balakrishnan (NDA).

Notable voting incidents in Chelakkara included minor delays due to a malfunctioning voting machine at a Pazhayannur booth and clashes between UDF workers and police in Desamangalam over crowd control outside a polling station. U R Pradeep cast his vote at Kondayoor Vidyasagar Gurukulam School, K Radhakrishnan voted at Thonnurkara AUP School, and K Balakrishnan voted at Pampadi Government High School, while UDF candidate Remya Haridas did not have a vote in the constituency. The Election Commission implemented tight security measures with live webcasting at all polling stations, monitored in real-time by control rooms.