Chennai: An estimated 6.29 crore electorate are expected to cast their ballots, as the single phase polling in one of the most fiercely contested elections to elect the 16th Tamilnadu Legislative Assembly begain at 7 am today, apart from the bypoll to the Kanyakumari Lok Sabha seat.
As the Covid pandemic protocols are in force, polling for the 234-Assembly seats begain in more than 88,000 polling booths across the State, which was 34.73 per cent higher in view of the pandemic.
More than 1.55 lakh Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) along with VVEPAT slips are being used during the polling, being held amid tight security and deployment of para military forces and state police personnel.
Election Commission sources said that enhanced security are being provided in more than 10,000 sensitive and hyper sensitive booths where the entire polling process are videographed and webcast live.
The polling, which commenced at 7 am will end at 7 pm in the evening, an increase by an hour in view of the pandemic.
With a view to ensure maximum turnout, the ECI also announced that those infected by the covid virus, are allowed to vote in the last hour by wearing the necessary PPE kits.
All those wearing face masks alone are allowed to enter the polling booth after thermal scanning and following the SOPs.
The hustle and bustle of the high voltage campaign ended at 7 pm on Sunday when the leading candidates made a last ditch effort in their respective constituencies to woo the voters by resorting to door-to-door campaign.
The elections will witness a five-cornered contest with the fronts headed by the traditional dravidian rivals, the ruling AIADMK and the Opposition DMK, vying with each other to win the confidence of the voters, apart from the Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) of actor-politician Kamal Haasan, ousted AIADMK leader and late J Jayalalithaa’s close aide V K Sasikala’s nephew TTV Dhinakaran’s AMMK and actor-director Seeman’s Naam Tamizhar Katchi in the fray.
Though it appeared a five-cornered contest on paper, it will once again be a two-horse race, with the main fight between the AIADMK and the DMK.
This election will be an acid test for the leadership of the AIADMK and the DMK, who are testing the waters in the absence of two tall leaders and late Chief Ministers J Jayalalithaa and M Karunanidhi respectively, notwithstanding the DMK sweeping the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.