Flash Voting in Southern Districts of Tamil Nadu; Ramanathapuram Collector says over 30% polls were recorded at 11 am
Vibrant elections began in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu on Thursday. Barring a few complaints of a technical glitch in the polling unit at several polling stations in Dindigul and Thoothukudi, it was largely peaceful, officials said.
South zone consists of 10 districts namely – Theni, Dindigul, Madurai, Virudhunagar, Sivaganga, Ramanathapuram, Tirunelveli, Tenkasi, Kanniyakumari and Thoothukudi.
There are 58 constituencies.
Long queues were formed in the rural pockets of Madurai city and suburban areas since it started at 7 am. A large number of voters participated. Despite the scorching sun, turnout was 18% in the first 60 minutes, officials said.
Several BLOs in Madurai North, Madurai West and Melur complained that breakfast was not served till 9:00 am. Similarly, in Kanniyakumari district, the police said that the number of rest stops was very less compared to the presence of women deployed by the police in the district.
From 8:00 a.m., prominent political figures, controversial candidates and ministers cast their votes in the respective polling stations.
Ramanathapuram District Collector Simranjeet Singh Kahlon said the average polling percentage at 11 am was 31.86 in the four assembly constituencies. There were no problems and voting was peaceful, he said.
Voting was conducted smoothly in Tirunelveli, Tenkasi and Kanniyakumari districts. In some rural pockets in Tirunelveli, people left strips in their dwellings. However, the polling staff at the station helped them cast their votes.
A little over 900 voters boycotted in Pottalurani in Thoothukudi district. Their complaint was that the district administration had not shut down fish processing units in the area, which they said had disrupted the ecosystem. — L. Srikrishna
