Kallakurichi in the Eastern Ghats reported the highest polling in Tamil Nadu at 75.67 per cent, while Chennai Central reported the lowest at 67.35 per cent in the Lok Sabha elections held on Friday. The data released by the Chief Electoral Officer at 7 p.m., will go up slightly when the final percentage is calculated.
Overall, Tamil Nadu reported 72.09 per cent polling till 7 p.m, higher than the 71.87 per cent reported in the 2019 elections. In 2014, the State reported 73.68 per cent polling.
Polling Peaks in Chennai
Polling in the three constituencies in Chennai was better than in 2019. Chennai South saw the biggest jump in polling at 67.82 per cent (as against 56.41 per cent in 2019); Chennai North reported 69.26 per cent polling (63.47 per cent in 2019), and Chennai Central reported 67.35 per cent (59.25 per cent).
Among the high-profile constituencies, Coimbatore reported 71.17 per cent polling, as against 63.99 per cent in 2019; Tirunelveli had 70.46 per cent (66.68 per cent); and Kanyakumari 70.15 per cent (69.92 per cent).
At 11 a.m, the turnout across the State was 24.37 per cent. It improved to 51.41 per cent at 3 p.m.. However, there was a good turnout in the last three hours, said Satyabrata Sahoo, Chief Electoral Officer in Tamil Nadu.
Three-cornered fight
Tamil Nadu witnessed a three-cornered fight amongst the DMK, the AIADMK, and the BJP, with a total of 950 candidates in the fray: 874 male and 76 female.
The State has 6.23 crore eligible voters, including 10.92 lakh first-timers. Of the total voters, 3.06 crore are men, 3.17 crore women, and 8,467 belong to the other category, Sahoo told newspersons on Thursday.
The DMK, in alliance with the Congress, is hoping a consolidation of the minority vote will help the party, while the BJP is banking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s governance. On its part, the AIADMK, which snapped ties with the BJP before the polls, is hoping to prove that it is still a force to reckon with.
Nearly 3.32 lakh officials were on polling duty at 68,321 polling stations.