Attingal and Alappuzha constituencies appeared to be in a hurry as polling crossed 13 per cent till 9.30 a.m. against the State average of 12.26 per cent after Kerala went to the booths at 7 a.m.

Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan takes on sitting MP Adoor Prakash of Congress in Attingal that saw a turnout of 13.29 per cent at 9.30 a.m.

In Alappuzha, KC Venugopal is facing off against sitting MP AM Ariff of the CPI(M), the sole party MP to win a seat in the 2019 polls, with 13.15 per cent of the electorate exercising their franchise till 9.30 a.m.

Shobha Surendran, the firebrand woman leader from the BJP, is the third candidate in Alappuzha that it witnessing a strong multi-cornered contest this time.

Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur lag

Polling lagged in comparison in Thiruvananthapuram (12.04 per cent) and Thrissur (12.39 per cent), which are witnessing notable fights with Shashi Tharoor of the Congress pitted against Union Minister of State for IT and Skill Development Rajeev Chandrasekhar of the BJP.

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Pannyan Raveendran of the CPI (constituent of the ruling Left Democratic government in the State, LDF) is the third candidate in Thiruvananthapuram. In Thrissur, actor Suresh Gopi is locked in a tough battle against K Muraleedharan of the Congress and VS Sunil Kumar of the CPI.

Long queues on view

Wayanad had polled 12.77 per cent till 9.30 a.m., where sitting MP and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi takes on Annie Raja of the CPI and K Surendran, State President of the BJP. Poling in other constituencies ranged between 11 per cent-plus and 12 per cent-plus, including in Vadakara, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Mavelikkara, Kottayam , Ernakulam and Palakkad. Polling was lowest in the Muslim-dominated constituencies of Malappuram (11.44 per cent) and Ponnani (10.65 per cent).

Long queues of voters lined up at many places of Kerala as the second phase of Lok Sabha elections began at 7 a.m. on Friday morning with a single-day exercise scheduled for the State. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan joined other leaders, including candidates, to arrive at the booths early in the morning. 

It remains to be seen if it will buck the trend witnessed in the first phase of polls held five days ago elsewhere in North India that saw a lower-than-expected numbers. The low turnout was attributed to the harsh weather, including heat waves.

In Kerala, too, the weather currently is not ideal with India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicting high temperatures at many places with elevated humidity that makes the weather muggy and unbearable. 

Meanwhile, the first hour of polling on Friday saw voting machines develop snags at a number of places. People had to wait for 30 to 40 minutes till these machines were repaired. Mock polling conducted from 5.30 a.m. too had necessitated replacement of a few machines, according to official sources. 

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