Chennai: With the clock ticking to mark the end of the campaign for the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections, leaders of various political parties are leaving no stone unturned to reach to the voters.
Election will be held in Tamilnadu on 18 April along with 97 constituencies spread over 12 States and one Union Territory.
The election campaign for the second phase gets over at 6 pm tomorrow. There are 845 candidates in the fray for the 39 Lok Sabha constituencies. Similarly 269 candidates are contesting in the by-polls to be held in the 18 Assembly constituencies.
Despite the scorching heat, leaders of various political parties are seeking votes for the candidates.
Top leaders including Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, DMK president M K stalin, AMMK deputy general secretary TTV Dhinakaran and MNM founder Kamal Haasan were trying to cover as many areas as possible today.
Palaniswami campaigned for Salem candidate Saravanan and Stalin is seeking votes for the party’s Central Chennai candidate Dayanidhi Maaran and Kanchipuram candidate Selvam. Dhinakaran was scheduled to campaign for Sriperumbudur candidate Tambaram G Narayanan.
Meanwhile, DMDK leader Vijayakant who is recovering from ailment was set to campaign for his party candidate Azhagapuram R Mohanraj fielded in North Chennai and AIADMK’s J Jayavardhan fielded in South Chennai today. He will also tour Central Chennai, it is said.
With just a few days left for the elections, the Election Commission too has swung into action and vehicle checkings are carried out in several places. It is said the flying squads are immediately reaching the spots where distribution of money is being reported.
Sources said, bank accounts are also monitored to check whether money is being transacted online. “Any bulk purchase of gift products, liquor from TASMAC are also being watched,” said an election official.
Seven-phase polling was announced for the 543-member Lok Sabha. A voter turnout of 69.43 per cent was recorded in the first phase. Counting of votes for all the phases will be taken up on 23rd May.