LS polls: Five lakh votes recorded in two hours in Chennai
The harsh and oppressive heat during the morning hours reduced in the evening, which may have prompted voters to come out in large numbers between 5 pm to 7 pm
Voters waiting to cast their votes in South Chennai (Photo: Justin George)
CHENNAI: After recording poor numbers in the Lok Sabha election for most part of the day on Friday, the day of polling, Chennai residents turned out in big numbers to add a whopping 5 lakh votes in the last two hours.
According to the update provided by the Election Commission of India, Chennai South Lok Sabha constituency recorded only 57.04 per cent till 5 pm on Friday. It was the lowest among the 39 constituencies in Tamil Nadu. Chennai Central constituency recorded 57.25 per cent votes and Chennai North recorded 59.16 per cent votes at the same time. They were the second and third from bottom among the seats here.
However, the numbers surged by the time the provisional figures for 7 pm were released. In those two hours, the voting percentage in all three constituencies surged by 10 percentage points. As per the data given by ECI, 67.35 per cent of voters exercised their franchise at Chennai Central, while it was 67.82 per cent at Chennai South and 69.26 per cent at Chennai North. This works out to about 5 lakh votes.
This surge during the dying hours of the polling day is widely perceived as the effect of the summer heat reducing in the evening. The blistering heat during the day had forced many to stay away from voting, which led to concerns that the city residents were unconcerned about the election process.
For the record, there are 14,84,689 registered voters in Chennai North, 13,43,167 in Chennai Central, and 20,07,816 in Chennai South.