Voting in 234 Tamil Nadu Assembly seats began on Thursday morning, under strict security, and was to last one phase till 6 pm. The election, regarded as an important political battle, has attracted a lot of attention among the people following months of rigorous campaigning by the leading parties and leaders.
The trends in early voter turnout reflected a high turnout throughout the state. Tiruppur and the Nilgiris registered the highest and the lowest turnout of 62.97 and 50.42 percent in the first few hours respectively. As the day progressed, the voting continued to gain momentum indicating a high voter turnout.
Some of the leading personalities were one of the first to cast votes. Chief Minister M K Stalin voted in Chennai with the Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin. Salem witnessed the voting of Edappadi K Palaniswami, and famous personalities like Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan, Ajith Kumar and Vijay were also found in polling booths in the early morning.
The election will decide the make up of the next government, the outcome of which is expected to be announced on May 4. This is a high-stakes race as the current Assembly is up until May 10.
The key political struggle is between the DMK-led government and the AIADMK-BJP coalition. The emergence of Vijay and his Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) has however created a new twist to the situation making the election to be a multi-cornered fight. Voters are now making decisions on whether to give the ruling government a second term or change the leadership.