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10:05 am:
Incidentally, while it may not have the glamor and attention lavished on the ongoing elections in TN and Kerala (and Puducherry), there is a fairly significant election happening today in Jammu and Kashmir as well. The last time the state went in for panchayat polls was back in 2001; a decade later, voting has begun for elections to 4,128 panchayats, with polling scheduled to be held in sixteen phases lasting all the way to end-May. The extended length of the poll process is largely because of the need for high security consequent on terrorist threats to disrupt the polls. On the first day, today, reports speak of villatgers turning up in large numbers in various panchayat blocks in Jammu including Udhampur and Bishnah.
10:01 am:
Money and freebies have always played a hand in elections -- but the sheer brazenness of the 'gifts for votes' schemes in Tamil Nadu is attracting international attention. Sample this story in the Los Angeles Times, which talks of the practice -- and the resulting ironies. Sample quote: "Neighbors crowded around the cardboard box containing a color television, one of dozens recently distributed in this community of mud-floored huts 25 miles from the bustling city of Chennai. There's only one problem: Nobody can use them.
"The ruling party said they'd give us TVs if we elected them, but what use are they?" said V. Amutha, 32, dressed in a pink sari. "We're without electricity, which we've been awaiting for the past 40 years."
9:55 am:
In a live demonstration of the law of unintended consequences, Andhra Pradesh is feeling the heat of elections in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The Times of India reports that the UPA government at the center has been diverting AP's quota of central power from the southern grid to TN, while other poll-going states have been buying power at higher rates. Thus, the report says, earlier this week TN got 90 million units from the central quota, while AP where the demand is higher got only 49 million units.
9:47 am:
What other media is saying:
In Tamil Nadu, This time round, it might just be Jayalalithaa who will snatch the CM's chair from Karunanidhi as surveys give a clear advantage to her.
Anger at graft seen as force in India poll
EC promises unprecedented security
Will Kerala electorate stick to 5-year switch?
9:30 am:
If Twitter posts are anything to go by (they are not -- how many of the 70-odd million Indians voting today are on the micro-blogging site anyway?), polling percentages in Kerala should be high -- all reports thus far speak of long lines, with posts indicating possible two-hour waits before getting to exercise the franchise. Against that, Tamil Nadu when judged by Twitter posts seems relatively apathetic -- posters, in more or less identical words, have been describing this as the "choice between two sets of crooks", reflecting their disillusionment with a "choice" that is between Jayalalitha, whose wholesale corruption allied to autocratic ways caused her to lose the once enviable hold she had on the Tamil electorate, and Karunanidhi, who is increasingly seen as presiding over a corrupt dynasty wherein the extended family has converted the state into a milch cow of sorts.
8:30 am:
Tamil Nadu State Election Commission: For information on recognised/unrecognised parties, symbols, notices.
Chief Electoral Officer of Kerala:Gives details of the Kerala polls- from polling stations to LIVE VIDEOS OF POLLING BOOTHS to the percentage of voter turnout. So far, since 8:00am, 4.7% have voted.
8:00 am: Kerala Polls: Voting began on Wednesday morning in all the 140 Assembly segments in Kerala, where the main fight is between the ruling LDF and the Congress-led UDF.
Meanwhile, Sushma Swaraj believes the BJP will have a much bigger presence in the southern states than the Congress and its alliances.
Targetting the Congress also was Kerala CM Achuthanandan who called Rahul Gandhi an Amul Baby.
About 6.91 crore voters will have the right to vote in these elections which may be the swan song of the political careers of chief ministers M Karunanidhi and V S Achuthanandan, both 87-years-old.
TAMIL NADU
Around 4.59 crore voters can pick 234 legislators from 2,748 candidates, including 141 women. There will be 54,016 polling booths spread all across Tamil Nadu.
The prominent candidates in the fray are Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi (Tiruvarur), AIADMK General Secretary J Jayalalithaa (Srirangam) and actor-politician Vijaykanth of DMDK (Rishivandhiyam).
The Tamil Nadu outcome is bound to cast a shadow on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's coalition in New Delhi in which the DMK is a key ally.
Chief Minister and DMK patriarch M. Karunanidhi is seeking election to the assembly for a record 12th time and as chief minster for the sixth time.
The DMK is seeking mandate for another term saying it fulfilled its 2006 electoral promises -- such as giving free colour televisions and providing welfare measures like free medical insurance, ambulance service, rice at Re.1 a kg and free houses to the needy.
KERALA
The 2.2 crore electorate, including 1.19 crore women, will pick from among 971 candidates including 78 women. There are 20,758 polling stations.
Close to 4000 booths have been identified as sensitive. Malappuram has maximum number of sensitive booths and Kottayam the least. Micro observers or videopgraphers are to be deployed in sensitive booths.
Two pre-election surveys have indicated a victory for the UDF in the battle for the 140-member legislature.
The CPI-M has put up candidates in 84 constituencies, leaving the rest to its allies. In the UDF, the Congress is contesting from 84 constituencies.
PUDUCHERRY
Over 8.10 lakh electorates will decide the fate of 187 candidates including 79 Independents.
Prominent candidates in the fray are Chief Minister V Vaithilingam, Ministers E Valsaraj, M Kandasamy, Malladi Krishna Rao, M.O.H.F Shajahan and A Namasivayam, Speaker of the outgoing assembly R Radhakrishnan (all Congress), former Chief Ministers N Rangasamy (N R Congress) and R V Janakiraman (DMK) and former Ministers Chandragasu, Ananda Bhasakaran and Rajavelu (all N R Congress), Theni Jayakumar and Lakshminarayanan (both Congress).
For the first time in the Union Territory, all the 851 polling booths have been connected with webcasting to monitor the polling process.
Election Commission's appeal to voters of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry
Dear electors,
Today, what is on offer for you is perhaps the best gift of our country to her citizens. It is the choice to elect your representative and your government.
Our machinery has worked day and night over the last many months to make it possible for each one of you to vote freely and fairly. We have tried to make this a simple and friendly experience too. Now it is your duty to exercise your franchise.
Don’t forget to take your EPIC card to the polling booth or other prescribed documents if you have not been given an EPIC.
All of you who are on the electoral roll must come out and press the button of your own future and carry home the ink mark of personal pride on your finger.
Please go by your conscience. Vote without fear. Vote without any inducement.
Election Commission of India
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