Malappuram Lok Sabha by-polls to be conducted with Kerala Assembly election

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora on Sunday said that the Malappuram Lok Sabha by-polls will be conducted along with the Kerala Assembly polls in 140 constituencies in the state.

Addressing a press conference here along with Election Commissioners Sushil Chandra and Rajeev Kumar, Arora said that as many as 40,771 polling booths would be set up for the Assembly polls and voting will be conducted following COVID-19 guidelines.

"COVID-19 patients and those in quarantine will be able to vote in the last hour of polling day. In addition, postal votes facility will be extended to senior citizens," he said.

Arora said that as part of reviewing the preparation of the Assembly election, interactive meetings with political parties were held. "We also met Chief Secretary and Director General of Police (DGP). We held in-depth meetings with collectors, Superintendents of Police (SPs), and police commissioners," he said.

Regarding suggestions put forward by political parties, CEC said the parties requested to consider the local festival's date like Vishu and Ramadan.

"We always take local festivities into consideration and also exams. One party pointed out about social media misuse and that some media houses present biased coverage. While another political party raised security concerns in North Kerala districts " he said.

CEC added that three districts in Kerala -Palakkad, Wayanad, and Malappuram - are vulnerable districts where more security would be provided.

( With inputs from ANI )