Kerala Records Nearly 90% Voter Turnout As LDF, UDF, BJP Battle For 140 Seats

2026-04-09 02:20:19

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Enthusiastic voters lined up outside the 30,000-odd polling booths in Kerala from 7am Thursday, and almost 90 per cent of the 27.14 million electorate would have voted by evening, Rathan U. Kelkar, the state's chief electoral officer, told the media.

Polling for the 140 constituencies was largely peaceful in the state, except for stray cases of violence and protests in some parts.

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Three fronts are in the fray including the CPI(M)-led LDF, the Congress-led UDF, and the NDA led by the BJP.

Voters in Assam and the union territory of Puducherry also exercised their franchise on Thursday. Voting will be held in Tamil Nadu on April 23, 2026, while West Bengal will see elections on April 23 and April 29. Byelections will also be held in states including Gujarat and Maharashtra this month.

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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged voters in Kerala, Assam and Puducherry to vote in large numbers. "I particularly request the youth and women to step forward and vote in large numbers," he said.

Pinarayi Vijayan, the 80-year-old chief minister, who is seeking a record third term, said people support the LDF's development agenda. The ruling front will win more seats this time, he said.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said the BJP was not a factor in Kerala.“This is a state where the BJP is a zero-seat party in the assembly. To even mention them in the same breath is an excessive compliment,” said Tharoor.“It is a fight between an incumbent LDF government and a challenging UDF.”

Superstar Mohanlal, who cast his vote in the morning, urged people to take part in the democratic process. He shared a selfie from his car, with the indelible ink on his index finger, after he cast his vote at a school in the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. "Done my part. Your turn, Keralam go vote!" he wrote on his official X handle.

India's former defence minister A.K. Antony said it is more than a UDF wave.“It is anti-Pinarayi wave, anti-LDF wave. People are fed up with the present government. It was a misrule and people suffered a lot. So, this time, UDF will get a massive victory. People of Kerala will teach LDF a lesson," he said. And he rubbished the prospects for the BJP in Kerala: "One sentence - People of Kerala don't like BJP, their ideology."

There were many interesting incidents across the state on polling day. In Pathanamthitta district, Divyasree and Ashwant, who got married at 9 in the morning, came to a polling booth three hours later to exercise their franchise. They told the media they had both decided to vote after the wedding. Ashwant said the wedding had been fixed in January and it coincided with the voting day.

A bride-to-be, Akhila Antony from Meppadi in Wayanad, chose to vote at a booth in Wayanad district before heading for her wedding at a church. Dressed in her wedding attire, she told reporters that she decided to vote before the wedding, as she would not have the time later on. And since she was in her wedding dress, polling officials gave her preference while voting, to enable her to reach the church in time.

Sadly, for a 62-year-old voter, it was a tragic end on Thursday. Minutes after he cast his vote at Vaniampara village in Thrissur district, he collapsed and died, according to the local police, who identified him as Vinodan. He had waited in the queue for almost an hour before exercising his franchise.

Voting in Assam

Voters at a model polling station at Dimoria high school in Assam's Kamrup metropolitan district were taken by surprise when they saw members of an international delegation watching them exercise their franchise on Thursday.

They were part of a group of foreigners, who were participating in the Election Commission of India's International Election Visitors' Programme (IEVP), 2026. The first phase saw 43 delegates from 23 countries (including representatives from five foreign missions in Delhi), visiting Assam, Kerala and Puducherry on Thursday. They will be in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu from April 20.

Gyanesh Kumar, India's Chief Election Commissioner, said the commission considers elections in the country as 'festivals of democracy.' The IEVP provides a comprehensive overview of India's electoral framework, institutional mechanisms and operational architecture, while familiarising the foreign delegates with its best practices and innovations.

“The IEVP showcases the strengths of India's electoral system to the international community and sharing the best practices adopted in the world's largest democracy for conduct of elections,” he said.