He urged party workers and the public to cooperate for a peaceful polling process and called on everyone to exercise their right to vote to increase voter turnout.

Polling will be held from 7 am to 6 pm. A total of 95 candidates are in the fray. Across 3,689 polling stations, 4,435 presiding officers and first polling officers, 8,870 polling officers, 351 sectoral officers and sectoral assistants each, 1,238 route officers, and 56 micro observers have been deployed. Six Quick Response Teams will function in each constituency. As many as 43 booths have been identified as sensitive, and special arrangements have been made there, District Police Chief Chaithra Theresa John said. A total of 4,729 personnel have been deployed for election duty, including 58 companies of central forces, along with police from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and nine companies of the Kerala Armed Police Battalion.

A total of 17,129 people have used the home voting facility. Postal ballots were distributed to 16,106 people, of whom 12,170 from within the district and 3,936 from outside have cast their votes. Polling materials will be distributed on Wednesday. From April 1, surveillance using 17 drones has been underway to detect model code violations. On polling day, a district control room and a webcasting control room will function at the Planning Secretariat. Security has been arranged at polling material distribution centres with local police and CAPF personnel.

Key instructions for voters

1. Ensure your name is on the voter list: Even if you have a voter ID (EPIC), you can vote only if your name is on the electoral roll. You can verify it via the website voters.eci.gov.in. Collect the voter information slip provided by BLOs before polling.

2. Accepted ID proofs: Voter ID card, Aadhaar card, PAN card, driving licence, passport, MGNREGA job card, bank/post office passbook with photo, health insurance smart card issued by the Labour Ministry, Ayushman Bharat health card, NPR smart card issued by RGI, pension documents with photo, official ID cards issued to MPs/MLAs, service ID cards with photo issued by central/state governments, PSUs, or public limited companies, and UDID card issued by the Ministry of Social Justice. Digital copies are not allowed.

3. How to vote: Press the button next to your chosen candidate's name on the voting machine. A beep sound will confirm your vote.

VVPAT verification: After pressing the button, you can see a slip displaying the candidate's name and symbol through the glass of the VVPAT box for seven seconds, confirming that your vote has been correctly recorded.

4. Facilities and restrictions: Persons with disabilities and senior citizens can vote without standing in queues. Ramps and toilet facilities will be available. Mobile phones are strictly prohibited inside polling booths. Kudumbashree volunteers will handle phone storage under a token system supervised by BLOs. Phones must be switched off before entering within 100 metres of the booth. Volunteers will assist persons with disabilities, elderly voters, and pregnant women.