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Malappuram(Kerala) |Voting in the bypoll for the Nilambur Assembly constituency in Kerala saw a steady turnout of 30.15 per cent after the first four hours -- 7 am to 11 am -- of polling on Thursday.

Polling commenced at 7 am amidst tight security arrangements, including the deployment of central security forces and police, along with live monitoring of the byelection process through an extensive webcasting system.

The turnout was 13.15 per cent in the first two hours and it increased to 30.15 by 11 am, according to figures released by the Election Commission.

People began arriving early in the morning at the 263 polling booths across the constituency, which has over 2.32 lakh voters who will elect their representative from among 10 candidates.

Among the 10, the key contenders are ruling LDF pick M Swaraj, Aryadan Shoukath (Congress-led UDF), Trinamool Congress state convener and independent candidate P V Anvar and Mohan George of the BJP-led NDA.

Speaking to reporters while moving from one booth to another, Shoukath said that the turnout will increase and the rains will not affect it.

He also said that with the setting up of 59 new booths, there may not be long queues outside many polling stations.

The UDF candidate expressed confidence about winning by a huge margin.

LDF's Swaraj was also confident of securing a win in the bypoll.

He too said that the voter turnout would pick up speed, despite the rains, as the day progressed.

Anvar, whose resignation as MLA from Nilambur necessitated the byelection, told reporters about the developments carried out in the constituency when he was representing it.

He also claimed that neither of the three fronts -- UDF, LDF and NDA -- discussed the local issues, like wild animal attacks, during their campaign.

He was also confident that he would get a good share of the UDF and LDF votes.

Anvar, presently the state convener of the Trinamool Congress, resigned as MLA of the constituency following his severing of ties with the CPI(M)-led LDF over certain allegations by him against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his close aides.

The voting commenced in the morning after a mock polling was carried out to check if the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) were working.

The final voter list includes 1,13,613 men, 1,18,760 women and 8 transgender persons, with 7,787 first-time voters, 373 overseas voters, and 324 service voters