Kerala/Assam/Puducherry: Polling for the 2026 Assembly elections was peaceful in Assam, Kerala and Puducherry with all three registering over 75 per cent voter turnout on Thursday, April 9.

5:44 pm: Auto driver Mahendran, who recently underwent surgery, arrived in an ambulance on a stretcher to cast his vote in Karaikal for the Puducherry Assembly election.

Photo: The Hindu

5:40 pm: A young mother in this central district claimed that she was not being allowed to vote by the presiding officer of a polling booth at Kurkancheri due to a serious injury on her left index finger, which was bandaged.

Akshaya, told reporters outside the polling booth that she arrived to vote at 1 pm with her child and has been waiting since then to exercise her right, which was allegedly being denied by the presiding officer, who is also a woman.

"The presiding officer is insisting that I remove the bandage. But I have 15 stitches on my finger after it got injured four days ago when it got caught in the mixer-grinder jar, and it is not possible to remove the bandage. I showed her the medical certificates as well, but she is not satisfied," she said.

5:34 pm:

5:22 pm: The by-elections to two Assembly constituencies - Bagalkot and Davanagere South - in Karnataka, where voting is underway, recorded a turnout of 54.82 per cent and 49.66 per cent respectively, until 3 pm.

Congress candidate Umesh Meti cast his vote at Timmapur, his native village

The bypolls were necessitated due to the demise of senior Congress MLAs H Y Meti (Bagalkot) and Shamanur Shivashankarappa (Davanagere South).

A total of over 2.59 lakh eligible voters are expected to cast their votes at around 319 polling stations in Bagalkot, where nine candidates are in the fray.

5:21 pm: Mammootty and his family arrived in Ponnuruni, Kochi, to cast their votes. "It is a once-in-five-year opportunity, and people should come forward to cast their votes," he said.

4:57 pm: Late Maharashtra deputy CM Ajit Pawar's son, Jay Pawar, has welcomed Congress's decision to withdraw from the bypolls. "Everyone expected this election to be uncontested. Congress made a very good decision. We are fighting this election for Dada, who worked for Maharashtra's development for decades and collaborated with all parties," he said.

4:50 pm: Voters at the VOC Government Higher Secondary School in Puducherry received a flowery welcome from Robot 'Nila.' District Election Officer of Puducherry A Kulothungan told PTI that the booth was among the model polling stations opened in Puducherry, and the initiative has drawn positive responses from the voters.

Photo Credit: R Ragu/ The Hindu

4:44 pm: The Congress withdrew its candidate from the bypoll to the Baramati Assembly seat, from where Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar is in the fray, with the party saying the decision was taken to maintain Maharashtra's political culture and decorum. The bypoll was necessitated after the tragic death of then deputy CM Ajit Pawar

4:42 pm: A police complaint was lodged by Assam's Karbi Anglong district administration regarding a video shared on social media purportedly showing the voting process inside a polling station. The video was reportedly shot inside a polling station in Diphu constituency, and an inquiry was initiated into the incident, they said.

A clash was reported between supporters of Akhil Gogoi's Raijor Dal and the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) at Booth No 166 under Barbheti Panchayat in Dhing Assembly Constituency in Assam.

4:34 pm: Popular Hindi and Assamese singer Papon exercised his voting rights in Guwahati.

4:13 pm: The Election Commission of India has released the latest voter turnout till 3 pm in Assam, Puducherry and Kerala.

Assam has registered 75.91 per cent. Chamaria in Kamrup recorded the highest turnout of 84.43 per cent, while New Guwahati witnessed the lowest at 60.57 per cent, officials said.

Kerala has recorded above 60 per cent turnout, with Kozhikode recording the highest at more than 64 per cent, Ernakulam at 65.93 per cent, Alappuzha at 61.33 per cent, Kottayam at 61 per cent, and Pathanamthitta at 59.26 per cent.

Union Territory Puducherry has registered 72.4 per cent voter turnout across 30 Assembly segments. Puducherry Chief Minister N Rangaswamy also voted.

4:11 pm: Villagers of Kachutoli were surprised after discovering their names had been removed from the voter list when they arrived to cast their votes in Assam's predominantly Scheduled Tribe-populated Dimoria Assembly constituency. They were not allowed inside the polling booth even after displaying their voter ID cards.

A 34.49 per cent voter turnout was reported in the constituency till 1 am

3:51 pm: A minor scuffle broke out between Congress and BJP activists at Manalur in Thrissur district after UDF candidate T N Prathapan arrived in the area. BJP activists prevented people accompanying Prathapan from entering the booth premises, leading to the scuffle.

Voting underway in Alappuzha

A similar incident occurred in Kuttiady, Kozhikode district, where a woman was denied the right to vote after it was found that her vote had already been cast as a postal ballot.

At Malampuzha and Shoranur in Palakkad district, Thrikkaripur in Kasaragod, and Vattiyoorkavu in Thiruvananthapuram, complaints emerged that votes had been cast in the names of original voters, leading to protests.

In Kalpetta, Wayanad, a polling agent was removed after it was found that she was simultaneously working as an ASHA worker.

3:48 pm: Kerala CEO Rathan U Kelkar said that the voting pattern in the Assembly elections that is underway indicates that the target of 90 per cent turnout can be achieved. "If the current trend continues, by the time polling concludes, we are confident we will see a turnout of 90 per cent," he told reporters.

3:39 pm: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma cast his vote and asserted that people will give a decisive mandate to the BJP-led NDA. He was accompanied by his wife Riniki Bhuyan Sarma and their two children, Nandil and Sukanya. He is contesting from Jalukbari, a seat he has represented since 2001.

3:18 pm: Popular film actors cast their votes. This election has also seen at least eight celebrities, including actors Ramesh Pisharody, Anjali Nair and Major Ravi, contesting in various constituencies.

Actor Mohanlal waited outside Mudavanmughal Government School in Thiruvananthapuram to cast his vote at around 7 am. Actor Prithviraj Sukumaran and his wife, Supriya, cast their votes at a polling booth in Thevara, Kochi.

Ahaana Krishnakumar arrived at a polling booth in Thiruvananthapuram with her family. She is the daughter of actor K Krishnakumar, who had earlier contested elections for the NDA.

Actor Asif Ali cast his vote in Thodupuzha and said he does not disclose which candidate he supports. Actor Jagadish, who had earlier contested elections for the Congress, said he is unsure whether he can handle politics as he does acting.

Actor Kunchacko Boban, who cast his vote in Alappuzha, said good governance should prevail regardless of who forms the government. Actor Tovino Thomas reached the polling station with his family and said he has never missed casting his vote.

3:14 pm: Kerala Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar cast his vote and appealed to the public to exercise their franchise. He voted at a polling booth in Jawahar Nagar in the Vattiyoorkavu constituency.

3:00 pm: Police used lathi charge following a clash between BJP and Congress workers at the Thirukkanur polling station.

2:58 pm: A newlywed couple in Kerala's Pathanamthitta district made a special stop at the polling station on Thursday, heading straight from their wedding to cast their votes.

In Wayanad, a bride cast her vote just before her wedding. Akhila Antony, accompanied by her relatives. reached Booth Number 191 at 9 am. Her wedding was scheduled at 10:30 am at the CSI Church in Koyileri near Mananthavady.

2:57 pm: ECI hosts 23-nation delegation in Kerala to witness voting process.

2:52 pm: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan casts his vote.

2:50 pm: People in Assam cast their votes.

1:50 pm: The voter turnout in Assam Assembly elections was recorded at 59.63 per cent and in Puducherry at 56.83 per cent as of 1 pm, according to data shared by the Election Commission of India (ECI).

Meanwhile, in Kerala, the high-stakes Assembly election gathered remarkable momentum, with nearly 50 per cent of the state's 2.71 crore electorate having exercised their franchise by 1 pm, raising expectations that the final turnout could challenge long-standing records. The turnout stood at 49.70 per cent.

1:40 pm: In first 4 hours, Assam records 38.92 pc voter turnout, Kerala 33.28 pc, Puducherry 37.06 pc

11:08 am: BJP national president Nitin Nabin urged the people of Assam, Kerala and Puducherry to come out in large numbers and vote for progress and development.

10:30 am: Kerala Minister P Rajeev arrived at the Ambedkar Training Centre in Vidya Nagar Colony to cast his vote

10:10 am: A voter turnout of 17.87 per cent was recorded in the first two hours of the assembly elections in Assam.

10:00 am: Around 16 per cent of Kerala's 2.71 crore electorate have cast their votes within the first two hours of polling.

9:30 am: Rajeev Chandrasekhar, BJP's Kerala State President, cast his vote in Thiruvananthapuram.

8:00 am: The voting began after completion of mock polling.