Sreesanth’s presence fails to attract more voters
Thiruvananthapuram: Cricketer S. Sreesanth’s glamour has failed to persuade more voters to go to the polling booths in Kerala.
The Thiruvananthapuram constituency, where Sreesanth (BJP) is contesting, has the lowest polling percentage in the State (65.19), according to date released by the Election Commission. The turnout is even five per cent lower than the percentage registered in the last Assembly elections (in 2011).
On the other hand, in the neighbouring Nemom, Vattiyoorkavu and Kazhakkoottam constituencies where the BJP has ensured a three-cornered fight with ruling United Democratic Front and the Opposition Left Democratic Front, the polling percentages have gone up. In Nemom, the polling percentage went up from 67.49 in 2011 to 74.11 while in Vattiyoorkavu, it increased from 63.88 to 69.83. In Kazhakkoottam, the polling percentage has gone up from 66.87 to 73.46.
Apparently, the lethargic voters were keen to vote for or against BJP this time though they discounted the presence of Sreesanth. Nemom, Vattiyoorkavu, Kazhakkoottam and Thiruvananthapuram are constituencies where the BJP hopes to win and open an account in the Assembly. These are four Assembly segments in which the BJP had a lead in the last Parliament elections (2014) against Shashi Tharoor of the Congress.
Former Union Minister of State O. Rajagopal is BJP’s candidate at Nemom. He is pitted against sitting Member of the Assembly V. Sivankutty (CPI -M) and V. Surendran Pillai of the Janata Dal (United).
At Vattiyoorkavu, BJP State president Kummanam Rajasekharan is challenging sitting Member K. Muraleedharan of Congress (who is the son of former Chief Minister K. Karunakaran) and T. N. Seema of CPI (M). In Kazhakkoottam, BJP’s former State president V. Muraleedharan has sitting member M. A. Vaheed (Congress) and Kadakampally Surendran (CPI-M) as his opponents.
Sreesanth is facing State Health Minister V. S. Sivakumar and Antony Raju of Kerala Congress (Democratic) in Thiruvananthapuram. The national leadership of the party had taken special interest in fielding him.
Thiruvananthapuram and its neighbouring areas, where a large proportion of the population is government employees, historically had lower polling percentages. Sreesanth only failed to change the trend. In 2011, Thiruvananthapuram constituency had the lowest polling percentage followed by Vattiyoorkavu. One of the reasons is that government employees prefer to sit at home or go to their native places when they get a holiday. This time the holiday for polling followed Saturday and Sunday.
Besides Thiruvananthapuram and Vattiyoorkavu, three other constituencies which have recorded less than 70 per cent polling are Kaduthuruthy, Attingal and Thiruvalla. Thiruvalla has high number of electors in the voters list who are working outside the State.
The highest polling percentage was reported from Cherthala (86.30) constituency followed by Kunnathunadu (85.63). Kunamangalam and Aroor constituencies too had polling percentages higher than 85.
More women than men have voted in the elections. Their votes exceeded that of men by more than 10 lakh across the State. Women outnumber men as electors in the State and a larger proportion of women than men voted. While 78.29 of the women electors cast their votes, only 76.33 per cent of men have turned up to vote. This has caused some worries in the UDF camp as women’s safety had emerged as a campaign issue following the murder of law student at Perumbavoor. However, in Perumbavoor, the polling percentage of women was more than one percentage point lower than that of men.
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