In the second phase of Lok Sabha election on Thursday, Tamil Nadu recorded a turnout of 70.95 per cent, according to Election Commission (EC) data at 7 pm. In 2014, the state had recorded a turnout of 73.67%. Voting concluded in 38 of the state's 39 seats and Vellore was the lone seat which did not go to polls. On the recommendations of the EC, President Ram Nath Kovind had cancelled elections in Vellore after cash worth Rs 12 crore was seized from an associate of a DMK leader during a raid.
Along with the Lok Sabha elections, bypolls were held to 18 assembly constituencies too and the turnout in those elections was 67.08 per cent. Voting in the state was largely peaceful with the exception of an incident in Arakkonam in Vellore district where paramilitary forces fired in the air to disperse an agitated crowd.
According to EC, over 160 companies of Central police forces and one lakh state police personnel were deployed. The state had a total of 67,720 polling stations and 7,780 booths were categorised as critical and vulnerable where more Central Armed Police Forces personnel and micro-observers were deployed.
The southern state, considered one of the key swing states in the general elections, saw a four-cornered fight. The AIADMK-led NDA -- which had apart from BJP, Vijaykanth's DMDK and PMK led by former union health minister Dr Anbumani Ramadoss -- and DMK-Congress alliance were the two most important political fronts in the state. Actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan's Makkal Needhi Maiam and TTV Dhinakaran's Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam are vying for third slot in the state.
This was also the first general election in the state after the demise of stalwart leaders J Jayalalitha and M Karunanidhi. Tamil Nadu witnessed some interesting contests that involved DMK leader Kanimozhi and A Raja.
Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi, acquitted in 2G scam case, is fighting her first Lok Sabha election against BJP's state unit chief Tamilsai Soundarrajan from Thoothukudi. The coastal district had witnessed a major agitation by locals against Vedanta's copper smelter for their pollution.
In Sivaganga, former union minister P Chidambaram's son Karti Chidambaram, who is under the lens of enforcement agencies for alleged money laundering was pitted against H Raja of BJP.
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 "Actor Rajinikanth’s wife Latha and daughter Soundarya after casting vote")
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The southern state, considered one of the key swing states in the general elections, saw a four-cornered fight. The AIADMK-led NDA -- which had apart from BJP, Vijaykanth's DMDK and PMK led by former union health minister Dr Anbumani Ramadoss -- and DMK-Congress alliance were the two most important political fronts in the state. Actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan's Makkal Needhi Maiam and TTV Dhinakaran's Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam are vying for third slot in the state.
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