Polling began in the Piravom assembly constituency on Saturday morning for the crucial bypoll in which the UDF spearheaded by the Congress and CPI-M-led LDF are locked in a fierce battle.
In almost all the 134 polling booths in the constituency in Kerala's Ernakulam district, brisk voting was reported with polling percentage touching 9.4 per cent within an hour of commencement of the exercise at 7 am.
LDF candidate, M.J. Jacob, who was among the early voters, said he had to wait for nearly an hour at one of the booths to exercise his franchise. He said he was confident of winning with a vast majority considering the huge turnout.
Anoop Jacob is the UDF candidate while the BJP candidate is K.R. Rajagoapal.Women were among the early voters in the constituency with a 1.83 lakh electorate.
Government has declared a public holiday for all government, quasi-government and educational institutions in the constituency in view of the polling.
Both LDF and UDF had launched a spirited campaign to woo the voters.
The bypoll was necessitated following the death of former minister, T.M. Jacob, father of Anoop Jacob.
With his death, the UDF strength in the 140-member assembly has gone down to 71, while in the LDF camp, the recent resignation of Neyyatinkara MLA, Selvraj (CPI-M), has reduced its strength to 67.