How leaders of parties and candidates across the State spent the day before voting
Spoke to leaders, candidates of various parties on Thursday about how they spent the day before polling
Polling for the Lok Sabha election in Tamil Nadu and the byelection to the Vilavancode Assembly constituency will begin at 7 a.m. on Friday.
Over 3.32 lakh polling personnel are deployed across the State. Details of polling stations can be checked at https://bit.ly/49PVBXy. The Public (Elections-II) Department has rolled out a facility to nd out the ‘queue status’ in each polling station across the State.
The details can be accessed at https://bit.ly/3JmEz8i, an ocial release said.
Of the 68,321 polling stations across the State, 8,050 have been identied as ‘vulnerable’ and 181, ‘critical’.
Webcasting of polling has been arranged at over 44,000 booths (about 65% of the total number of stations).
“Polling will continue till 6 p.m. Those standing in the queue will be issued tokens, and be allowed to vote,” Chief Electoral Ocer
Satyabrata Sahoo told reporters.
Electorate count
The State’s electorate is 6.23 crore – 3.17 crore women, 3.06 crore men and 8,467 transpersons. About 10.92 lakh are aged 18-19.
Of the 950 candidates in the fray, 874 are men and 76, women.
A total of 39 general observers, 20 police observers, 58 expenditure observers and a special expenditure observer have been deployed by the Election Commission in the State.
Security arrangements
Besides 190 companies of central armed police force personnel positioned across the State, about 1.3 lakh police personnel, including the State police, armed police and home guards sourced from Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Telangana have been deployed. Priority would be given to senior citizens, persons with disabilities and pregnant women during voting to ensure that they don’t wait in queues for long, he said.
1.58 lakh ballot units Over 1.58 lakh ballot units, 81,000 control units and 86,000 VVPAT units are available in the State, and engineers have been deployed to rectify issues that may arise.
The polling percentage in the State was between 72% to 74% during the last three general elections – 73.02% in 2009; 73.74% in 2014; and 72.47% in 2019.
Tamil Nadu is going to polls on Friday to elect 39 representatives for the 18th Lok Sabha. As the campaigning ended on Wednesday evening in the State, The Hindu spoke to leaders and candidates of various parties on Thursday about how they spent the day before polling.
“The day before polling is not at all relaxing for me,” said VCK president Thol. Thirumavalavan, who is contesting to retain his Chidambaram Lok Sabha seat. “The day started early in the morning. From meeting visitors and conducting meetings, I have an itinerary lined up for the whole day. After visiting several places, I have to return to Chidambaram and rush to Anganur to cast my vote.”
It is doubly hectic for the BJP State president K. Annamalai, who toured the State seeking support for NDA candidates, apart from campaigning in the Coimbatore Lok Sabha seat from where he is contesting. He said he visited Marudhamalai Murugan temple and Siddhar temples on Thursday and decided to spend the rest of the day with his family before leaving for Aravakurichi to cast his vote.
“There is no room for relaxation till the polling ends,” said Arun Nehru, a new entrant and DMK candidate for the Perambalur Lok Sabha seat. The son of DMK strongman K.N. Nehru, Mr. Arun said his constituency falls under three district districts – Karur, Tiruchi and Perambalur – and “I have to coordinate with my party functionaries in all the three districts, though the campaign ended...”
Another new entrant, who faces the electoral battle from Coimbatore, Singai G. Ramachandran, who heads the AIADMK IT wing, said he slept only three to four hours on the campaign days and would sleep peacefully only after the polling ends. He had organised meetings with party functionaries on Thursday.
TNCC president K. Selvaperunthagai said the mental stress of touring would continue even after polling, till the votes are counted. After nishing meetings with the legal wing, he said that he had a good lunch at a restaurant and is rushing to ‘Satyamurthy Bhavan,’ TNCC headquarters.
BJP’s Chennai South candidate Tamilisai Soundararajan said she oered prayers at temples, soon after campaigning ended at 6 p.m. on Wednesday. “There is no relaxation at all. Even now, I am holding discussions with party Karyakartas,” she said.
TMC (Moopanar) president G.K. Vasan said he held a virtual meeting with the candidates and observers of his party. “After a long time, I am going to have a good lunch at home and take a nap,” he added.
PMK's Dharmapuri candidate Sowmiya Anbumani said she attended a wedding on Thursday and offered prayers at temples. The AIADMK’s P. Saravanan said he went for a long walk with his pets in the morning.
Priority will be given to senior citizens, persons with disabilities and pregnant women during voting to ensure that they don’t wait in queues for long
SATYABRATA SAHOO Chief Electoral Ocer