Tamil Nadu saw 74.26 per cent polling in 232 constituencies which went to the polls on Monday to elect a new Assembly. The figure was released by Rajesh lakhoni, the chief electoral officer on Tuesday. He said 4.28 crore out of the 5.8 core voters cast their franchise in spite of inclement weather including heavy rains and winds in some of the districts.
Polling to two Assembly constituencies have been deferred due to seizure of large amount of unaccounted cash and gifts meant for distribution among voters. Aravakurichi and Thanjavur, the constituencies where polling was deferred will go to the polls on May 23 and the results would be announced on May 25.
Counting of votes for the 232 constituencies which went to the polls on Monday would be taken up on Thursday and results announced on the same day. Most of the exit polls forecast a DMK-Congress alliance victory in Monday’s poll. The fall of 3.86 per cent in polling compared to the 2011 Assembly election has dampened the spirits in the AIADMK camp.
“This should be a matter of concern for the AIADMK leadership. The fact that there was no anti-incumbency factor against the AIADMK Government could have led to some sort of complacency among the party workers. This could have led to the fall in polling percentage. Since the DMK cadre are hyper active and make sure that their votes are cast, the AIADMK could be in for trouble,” author and analyst Aravind Neelakantan told The Pioneer. He pointed out that in the 2006 election which was won by the DMK-Congress combine, the polling was 70.7 per cent.
But Subramanian Balaji, Tamil Nadu’s crusader against freebee culture, chose to differ and said the big loser could be the People’s Welfare Front. “The AIADMK votes have gone to the party’s kitty because the cadre is enamoured by the charisma of the leader. The DMK cadre too would have cast their votes. The fall in percentage is due to the neutral players who stayed awaw from the hustings as there was no anti-incumbency factor against the government” said Balaji who has no love lost for both the Dravidian parties. To further questions, he said, “It is a matter of another 24 hours. You will understand the wisdom of Tamil Nadu voters by Thursday noon”.