All arrangements in place as Nilambur goes to poll on June 19

2 lakh voters to choose representative in Nilambur byelection with tight security and 10 candidates in fray.

MALAPPURAM

About 2 lakh voters are expected to reach polling booths on Thursday to choose their representative in the Nilambur Assembly byelection. As many as 263 polling stations have been set for a total voter population of 2.32 lakh.

Poll equipment was distributed from Mar Thoma Higher Secondary School, Chungathara, on Wednesday. After a mock poll at 5.30 a.m., polling will start at 7 a.m. and continue till 6 p.m. Voters reaching the polling stations before 6 p.m. will be allowed to vote.

A total of 315 voting machines and 341 VVPATs, including reserves, will be used for polling. As many 1,301 trained polling officials will be on duty. Among them will be 316 presiding officers, 975 polling staff and 10 micro-observers.

Tight security arrangements have been made at 14 critical booths, including three booths located in the forest. The booths in the forest are at Punchakkolli, Vaniyampuzha and Nedumkayam.

Election Commission has arranged webcasting of the polling in all stations. Although Nilambur has 3,672 voters eligible for home voting, only 1,254 of them exercised this concession. They voted from their homes between June 9 and 16. Among them were 938 voters above age 85 and 316 differently abled persons.

Ten candidates are in the fray, including the frontrunners Aryadan Shoukath of the United Democratic Front (UDF) and M. Swaraj of the Left Democratic Front (LDF).