Stephen Kayyar

Daijiworld Media Network - Kasargod (MS) 

Kasargod, Oct 20: Polling for the by-election for the Manjeshwar legislative constituency will be held on Monday, October 21. 

2,14,779 voters will exercise their franchise. Among the voters 1,06,928 are women and 1,07,851 are men. There are 1,240 differently-abled voters also. 

198 polling booths are set for the by-election. 

The equipments for the polling booths were taken from the returning officers from the Paivalike city government school. The polling will be held from 7 am to 6 pm. Web casting of votes will be held in 20 polling booths. 

Paramilitary forces are deployed in 49 polling booths. 257 EVM machines are ready for the casting of votes. 105 polling booths are considered as sensitive and police are keeping a strict vigil in these booths. 

Video recording of all the polling booths will be done. 53 polling booths will have micro inspectors on duty. 198 women police assistants are appointed to check the identity of women wearing burqa. All preparations are made by the election commission to conduct a transparent and peaceful polling. 

In 2016, 76.33% of polling was recorded in this legislative constituency. As it is a by-election, the percentage of polling might go up. 

M C Khamaruddin is the UDF candidate, which is an alliance group of Congress. M Shankar Rai is contesting on LDF ticket. Kuntar Ravish Tantry is contesting on BJP ticket. In total there are seven candidates in the fray, including independents.