On the other hand, the AIADMK-led alliance is leading in 89 seats, as per Election Commission data…reports Asian Lite News.
As the counting of votes for the single-phase Tamil Nadu Assembly elections is underway with the DMK-led alliance in the lead in a majority of Tamil Nadu’s 234 Assembly constituencies, party cadres have started to assemble at the party headquarters here.
The party cadres are visibly happy as DMK is expected to maintain the lead and finally win the poll to capture power in the state after a gap of 10 years.
According to Election Commission data, the DMK is leading in 117 seats, while of its allies, Congress leads in 13 seats, the CPI, the CPI-M and the VCK in two seats each, taking the tally to 136 seats, as against the halfway mark of 118 seats.
On the other hand, the AIADMK-led alliance is leading in 89 seats, as per Election Commission data.
DMK President M.K. Stalin and his son Udhayanidhi Stalin are comfortably leading in their Kolathur and Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni seats, respectively.
Leaders of various political parties, several movie actors and general public were seen voting early…reports Asian Lite News.
Medium level turn outs were reported in the major election centers of India. Over 39 per cent of the 6.28 crore voters have cast their votes across the 234 constituencies in Tamil Nadu where Assembly elections are underway.
According to the Election Commission of India, 39.61 per cent of votes have been polled in the state till 1 p.m.
Polling began at 7 a.m. and would end at 7 p.m.
A total of 3,998 candidates are in the fray, seeking the 6.28 crore voters’ favour to enter the Tamil Nadu Assembly.
With 77 contestants, the Karur Assembly seat sees the highest number of Assembly aspirants.
Leaders of various political parties, several movie actors and general public were seen voting early.
Chief Minister K.Palaniswami, Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam, DMK President M.K. Stalin, PMK Founder S.Ramadoss, Congress leader P. Chidambaram, DMDK Treasurer Premalatha Vijayakant, NTK leader Seeman, MNM leader Kamal Haasan, AMMK leader T.T.V.Dhinakaran and others cast their votes.
Similarly, the Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo, who is managing the poll show in the state, too cast his vote.
Rajnikant and Kamal Hasan with daughters Akshara and Shruti Hassan during voting in Chennai,April 6,2021 (Photo: Pallav Paliwal)
From the movies field, Rajinikanth, star couple Ajit Kumar and Shalini, Vijay, Surya, Karthi, Sivakumar have cast their votes.
Ajit Kumar and Shalini had reached their polling booth about 20 minutes before the start of polling to vote early in order to avoid the fan crowd.
He, in fact, never fails to vote in any election. In the past polls too, he was seen standing in the queue to cast his vote.
On his part Vijay pedalled his way from his residence to the polling booth with a large number of people following him on their two wheelers.
After voting he went back home on a two wheeler.
Speaking to reporters after voting, Stalin said, “people were casting their votes enthusiastically and the May 2 result will be great”.
A total of 88,937 polling booths are there in the state and over 1,59,165 electronic voting machines have been deployed.
About 1.58 lakh security personnel have been deployed to prevent any untoward incident.
Similarly, voting is underway at the lone Kanyakumari Lok Sabha seat where bypoll is being held simultaneously.
Meanwhile Puducherry recorded 54.30 per cent at 1.30 p.m.
The Puducherry Union Territory has just over 10 lakh voters and the fight for the 30-member Assembly is majorly between the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) consisting of Congress (contesting in 14 seats), DMK (13), CPI, VCK (one seat each) and an Independent.
The rival National Democratic Alliance (NDA) comprises of All India N.R. Congress (16 seats), BJP (9) and AIADMK (5).
The technocrat may garner a few BJP votes, but does not seem to be a winning candidate, reports Ashok parameswar
As the state gears up for polling on April 6, emotions and aspirations remain high. Despite the beating heat, voters in Palakkad are all set to usher in more development to the district. Voters across the constituencies look forward to a complete facelift of the district that has long been to be on a par with other districts of the state.
There are 12 constituencies in Palakkad district, Palakkad, Chittur, Nenmara, Tarur, Mannarkkad, Malampuzha, Alathur, Thrithala, Ottapalam, Pattambi, Kongad,and Shoranur with 73 candidates. According to Palakkad constituency, it was alternately represented by the UDF and the LDF since 1957.
Sitting MLA Shafi Parambil of the UDF who defeated BJP’s Sobha Surendran by 17,483 votes in 2016, is fully confident of representing the constituency for a third term in the legislative assembly and his rival LDF’s Pramod promises to keep up the government’s policies.
Though technocrat E Sreedharan has drawn national attention with his candidature, his political line may not necessarily translate to a win. He may garner a few BJP votes, but does not seem to be a winning candidate. Another determining factor is how the Palakkad municipality, which is being headed by the BJP since 2015 will exercise its vote.
Palakkad stands out as the urban areas align itself to the BJP and beyond it, there’s an unflinching affiliation to the Leftist ideology.
The UDF might find a challenge in the vote share since the candidature of E Sreedharan might draw up the BJPs vote share a few notches. The UDF might find a challenge in the vote share since the candidature of E Sreedharan might draw up the BJPs vote share by a few margins.
Shafi Parambil
Chittur constituency which shares a border with Tamil Nadu is another seat that is likely to witness a tight contest LDF and UDF. K Krishnan Kutty who was a UDF ally in earlier polls, but won 2016 assembly election in the LDF banner. Tamil votes will be a crucial factor in the upcoming polls because of its lion’s share in Chittur.
According to recent surveys, the UDF camp is likely to win 7 out of the 12 seats in Palakkad district while LDF would be able to bag 5 seats only. UDF’s V T Balram’s tight fight with LDF’s MB Rajesh would be another factor that grabs the attention of Kerala electoral politics. The promise of the prosperous state as put forward by the present government is yet to receive complete realisation in the district. This will decide its fate.
