Officials said the single-phase election in Tamil Nadu on Saturday to elect over 12,500 ward members in 640+ urban local bodies was primarily peaceful.
Throughout the day, voter turnout was low in various locations, and the state election commission was scheduled to report the overall polling percentage. On Feb 22, 268 polling stations will begin tallying votes. Tamil Nadu’s latest urban civic elections were held in 2011 when the AIADMK was in power.
For a time, irregular occurrences like a BJP man’s protest to a Hijab-clad woman voter in a Madurai polling station, group clashes, and disturbance between DMK and AIADMK activists in various areas caused alarm.
There were also reports of EVMs malfunctioning in certain voting places and multiple charges of money laundering against one another. It contains charges leveled against both the ruling DMK and the main opposition AIADMK in some cases. The BJP also accused the DMK of distributing funds around the state.
The BJP member who was involved in the Hijab controversy was apprehended by police, and a charge was filed against him. V Palanikumar, the Tamil Nadu State Election Commissioner, stated that India is a secular country and that a report on the incident has been requested from district poll authorities.
Chief Minister M K Stalin and his wife Durga Stalin cast their votes here, joining the crowd. Stalin predicted a massive win for the DMK. People’s support for his party in the urban elections will be higher than in the Assembly election last year, he said.
Various party leaders, including AIADMK chief O Panneerselvam (Theni district), voted in their respective localities, while Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan also voted.
Panneerselvam expressed confidence that people will give the AIADMK their complete support in today’s civic polls, recalling benefit initiatives implemented under his party’s rule.
In a complaint to the Tamil Nadu State Election Commission (TNSEC), the opposition party claimed that the DMK used violence in some booths within the Chennai Corporation limits. In the complaint, RM Babu Murugavel, the party’s spokesperson and joint secretary of its advocate’s wing, urged action from the TNSEC and re-polling in some of the wards.
Voting in metropolitan areas scattered over 38 districts began at 7 a.m. and ended at 6 p.m. People who came to polling places until 5 p.m. were allowed to vote, despite the fact that the last hour of polling was reserved for those who had been infected with the coronavirus. Under strict security, EVMs were relocated to counting centres.
The overall polling percentage in the state was 47.18 as of 3 p.m.
The Tamil Nadu State Election Commission used online streaming and CCTV cameras to monitor voting booths, and the state police deployed over 1 lakh people for security. There are 57,778 candidates running for 12,607 ward member positions in 648 urban local bodies, with a total of around 2.75 crore eligible voters. Due to events such as the death of specific candidates, a fluctuation in the number of wards is likely.
The TN State Election Commission announced polls for a total of 12,838 ward member positions in 649 urban civic bodies last month.
There are 21 municipal corporations, 138 municipalities, and 490 town panchayats among the 649 urban local authorities. Polls in all 12 wards of Kadambur town panchayat in Thoothukudi district were subsequently cancelled due to violations.
There were no nominations made for a town panchayat ward (Kanadukathan) in the Sivaganga district. In total, 218 people were elected without facing any opposition.
Edited by: Mahi Gupta
Published by: Vishakha Verma
