Over 75% turnout logged in phase 2 of Kerala local polls

THe endorse stage of the local personify elections in Kerala on th saw a higher elector turnout compared to the first phase with over 75% of registered electors exercising their franchise.Officials of the State Election Commission (SEC), which conducted the polls, put the provisional turnout figure at 75.38% at the closing of voting at 6 pm. The final turnout is expected to be released only by Friday.In the first phase of the polls on Tuesday, just over 70% of the voters had cast their votes in the southern and central districts of the state.Polling was conducted in Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur, Wayanad and Kasaragod districts. A total of 604 local bodies including 470 grama panchayats, 77 block panchayats, seven district panchayats, 47 municipalities and three corporations were in the fray on Thursday. A total of 38,994 candidates, mostly belonging to LDF, UDF and NDA fronts, were trying their electoral luck today.As per the provisional figures provided by the SEC, Wayanad recorded the highest turnout at 77.34% and Thrissur the lowest at 71.88%. Malappuram, Kannur, Kozhikode, Kasaragod and Palakkad recorded turnouts of 76.85%, 75.73%, 76.47%, 74.03% and 75.6% respectively. The turnout this time is comparatively lower than 2020.While urban areas including municipalities and corporations saw lesser crowds, long queues were seen more in rural areas where voters have to pick three candidates each for grama, block and district panchayats.Barring some minor skirmishes between activists of political parties and technical issues concerning EVMs in polling booths, the elections were largely peaceful.Among prominent political leaders who stepped out to cast their votes included Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Assembly Speaker AN Shamseer, KPCC chief Sunny Joseph and former BJP state president K Surendran. While Vijayan, Shamseer and Joseph voted at their respective polling booths in Kannur district, Surendran exercised his franchise in his native Kozhikode district.The local body polls, which help political parties install their representatives at the grassroots level, in Kerala are widely considered a barometer of public mood and are seen as a semi-final before the Assembly polls next year.Rape-accused MLA comes out of hiding to cast votePalakkad MLA Rahul Mamkootathil, who has been accused by multiple women of rape, came out of hiding to cast his vote at a polling booth in Kunnathurmedu within the Palakkad municipality limits.It was expected that the MLA, who had been absconding for over two weeks, would come out to vote as his pleas for anticipatory bail in the two rape cases against him had been allowed by the district sessions court and the High Court.Mamkootathil arrived in a car outside the polling booth just after 4:50 pm on Thursday. Accompanied by the local Congress candidate, the MLA cast his vote before returning to his office.The MLA told reporters that the charges against him have been filed in court and that the truth would eventually come out. He declined to answer any other questions and purportedly headed straight to his home in Adoor in Pathanamthitta district.