Chennai, Oct 5:
With polling scheduled for Tuesday, October 6, the Madurantakam and Dharapuram Assembly bypoll constituencies are under tight security, with the final campaign ending on Sunday evening.
Here is a detailed newspaper-style article with the latest candidate and polling-station figures.
Madurantakam, Dharapuram go to polls tomorrow amid tight security
Chennai: All arrangements have been completed for polling in the Madurantakam and Dharapuram Assembly constituencies on Tuesday, with both reserved seats going to the polls amid tight security.
The polling will be held from 7 am to 6 pm on October 6. The counting of votes is scheduled for October 9.
The Madurantakam (SC) constituency in Chengalpattu district has 27 candidates in the fray, while Dharapuram (SC) in Tiruppur district has 22 candidates, taking the total number of contestants in the two constituencies to 49. In Madurantakam, 15 of the candidates are men and 12 are women, while Dharapuram has 17 men and five women.
In Madurantakam, the principal contestants include Maragatham Kumaravel of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), I Parandhaman of the DMK, Kanitha Sampath of the AIADMK, P Suganthi of the CPI(M) and K Janakiraman of the Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK). The remaining contestants include candidates of smaller parties and Independents.
Dharapuram has P Sathyabama of the TVK, S Suganya of the DMK, K Bhanumathi of the AIADMK, P Lakshmanan of the CPI and M Karthika of the NTK as the prominent contestants, along with other candidates and Independents.
A total of 285 polling stations have been established in Madurantakam and 320 polling stations in Dharapuram, taking the combined number of polling stations to 605. Voters in both constituencies will exercise their franchise between 7 am and 6 pm.
Security has been stepped up across both constituencies, with authorities closely monitoring sensitive areas and preventing the movement of outsiders after the campaign period ended. Political functionaries and campaign workers from outside the constituencies who are not voters were directed to leave by 6 pm on Sunday. Police have also been checking hotels, marriage halls and other places where outsiders could stay.
The Election Commission’s 48-hour silent period came into force at 6 pm on Sunday. Public meetings, rallies and other election-related campaigning have been prohibited during this period, including campaigning through television, websites and social media platforms.
The administration has also intensified surveillance against possible distribution of cash and gifts to voters. Campaign vehicle permissions issued to political parties and star campaigners ceased after the campaign ended. On polling day, restrictions will remain on the use of vehicles for transporting voters.
Both constituencies have also been declared local holidays on polling day to facilitate voting. Government and aided schools being used as polling centres have been given holidays around the election process, with polling personnel also deployed for election duty.
The bypolls were necessitated after Maragatham Kumaravel and P Sathyabama, who had won the Madurantakam and Dharapuram seats respectively on AIADMK tickets, resigned as MLAs and subsequently joined the TVK. They are now contesting the bypolls as TVK candidates.
The election has consequently turned into a five-way political contest involving the TVK, DMK, AIADMK, Left parties and NTK, besides Independents. The final campaign witnessed intensive canvassing by senior leaders of the major parties before the curtains came down at 6 pm on Sunday.
With campaigning now prohibited, the focus has shifted to polling arrangements, security and voter turnout. Election officials are expected to move the EVMs to the designated counting centres after polling, where they will remain under security until counting on October 9.Note: The final field is 27 candidates in Madurantakam and 22 in Dharapuram.
Earlier reports mentioned 28 in Madurantakam after scrutiny, but one Independent candidate subsequently withdrew, bringing the final number down to 27.