Kerala Congress urges Election Commission to change Friday polling date in state

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], March 19 (ANI): The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) acting president, MM Hassan, on Tuesday urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to reschedule the polling in the southern state, which is scheduled to take place on April 26, as it coincides with a Friday.
"Considering the inconvenience to a certain section of the people regarding the election day, which is Friday, we have urged the Election Commission to change the date. In Kerala, Friday and Sunday will be inconvenient to various sections of the community. So we urge to change this 26th day to another date," MM Hassan said.
"I have sent an email to the Central Election Commission and the UDF chairman. The opposition leader has also sent mail to the election commissioner for the same," he added.
Meanwhile, as the Lok Sabha is nearing, one of the most high-profile constituencies in this Lok Sabha election is Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala. Three-time MP from the constituency Shashi Tharoor of the Congress is up against Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar of the BJP and a strong left candidate in Pannyan Raveendran a former MP.
Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency comprises six Assembly segments: Nemom, Kovalam, Neyyattinkara, Parassala, Vattiyoorkav, and Kazhakkoottam. Being the state with the highest literacy rate in the country, Kerala holds 20 Lok Sabha seats.
Congress' Shashi Tharoor believes that his work over the last 15 years in the constituency will speak for itself.
In 2019 general elections, Tharoor emerged victorious, gathering 416131 votes (41.4 per cent) of total votes, followed by BJP's Kummanam Rajasekharan--416131 votes (31.4) and Communist Party of India's C. Divakaran--258556 votes (25.7).
Similarly, in 2014, Shashi Tharoor emerged victorious, defeating BJP candidate O. Rajagopal.
The BJP has fielded Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar against Congress MP Tharoor. This is the first time that Chandrasekhar has been fielded for Lok Sabha polls.
He also served as a national spokesperson for the BJP.
Kerala will hold elections in a single phase on April 26. There are 20 Lok Sabha constituencies in Kerala and the BJP has never won a parliamentary seat in the state.
Earlier in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the NDA won 353 seats, the UPA stood at 91, and others won 98. (ANI)