Kottayam: NSS General Secretary G Sukumaran Nair on Thursday said that democracy must prevail and that they are not taking any position on whether there should be a change in government or not.

He was speaking after casting his vote at a booth set up at St. Theresa’s School in Vazhapally, Changanassery.

“Democracy should succeed. Every voter must assess the current situation and cast their vote accordingly. We are not saying whether there should be a change in government or not. Whoever wins, let them come to power. Democracy must prevail, and people should take a stand accordingly,” he said.

Referring to the Sabarimala gold smuggling case, he added that those responsible must be punished. “We believe that the government and the courts are investigating the matter properly. Let the process continue,” he said.

When asked if there is any wave in favour of a particular side in the elections, Nair said he would not comment on that at the moment.

Polling began for high-stakes electoral battles in two states, Assam and Kerala, as well as the Union Territory of Puducherry, on Thursday at 7 am with the Election Commission making arrangements for free, fair and smooth polling.

Voters have queued outside polling stations to cast their votes in the single-phase assembly elections.

In Kerala, over 2.6 crore electors will decide the fate of 883 candidates across 140 constituencies. Of the 2,69,53,644 registered voters across the state, there are 1,38,27,319 women voters, and the number of male voters stands at 1,31,26,048.

Officials said 277 voters have been registered in the 'third gender category.'Among the electorate, nearly 4,24,518 voters fall in the 18-19 age group, while 2,04,608 voters are aged 85 years and above

To facilitate safe and secure polling, a total of 30,471 polling stations have been set up, which comprise 119 logistic and voter machine distribution centres and 41 vote counting centres.