TN voters brave searing heat to cast their votes in 2024 LS elections

NEW DELHI: Voters in Tamil Nadu voters braved more than normal temperatures on Friday as they cast their votes in the first phase of the 2024 general election.

"Tamil Nadu is having more than normal temperatures, and some isolated places in the state can see heatwave conditions," Naresh Kumar, senior scientist at IMD, Delhi, told ANI.

Bihar also experiences above-normal temperatures.

"In Bihar also, the temperature is above normal and has reached 40 degrees but there has been no heatwave. In Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, the temperature is normal," Kumar said.

"Rainfall activities are mainly going on in North-East states and we have given a warning for heavy rainfall in Tripura. In Delhi, the temperature is normal and there is no heatwave due to western disturbances," he added.

The average voter turnout in 39 constituencies of Tamil Nadu stood at 39.51 per cent till 1 pm as per the data released by the Election Commission of India.

The south Parliament constituency of Chennai recorded a voter turnout of 28.92 per cent till 1 pm whereas the Chennai north constituency witnessed 29.05 and the voter turnout in central Parliament constituency was recorded 28.08 percent.

Voting percentages for the other constituencies participating in phase 1 elections are Arakkonam- 40.30 per cent, Arani- 44.16, Chidambaram-37.76 per cent, Coimbatore-35.89 per cent, Cuddalore-37.84 per cent, Dharmapuri-40.70 per cent, Dindigul-42.12 per cent, Eorde- 43.54 per cent, Kallakurichi-46.06 per cent, Kacheepuram-39.92 per cent, Kanniyakumari-37.86 per cent, Karur- 46.23 per cent, Krishnagiri-39.78 per cent, Madurai-35.79 per cent, Mayiladuthurai-40.50 per cent.

Nagapattinam-42.05 per cent, Namakkal-46.31 per cent, Nilgris-40.88 per cent, Perambalur-45.86 per cent, Pollachi-40.08 per cent, Ramanathapuram-40.90 per cent, Salem-46.89 per cent, Sivganga-34.10 per cent, Sriperumbudur-30.65 per cent, Tenkasi-39.91 per cent, Thanjavur-41.14 per cent, Theni-41.28 per cent, Thoothukkudi-39.11 per cent, Tiruchirappalli-38.13 per cent, Tirunelveli-38.24 per cent, Tiruppur-44.08 per cent, Tiruvallur-38.55 per cent, Tiruvannamalai- 41.74 per cent, Vallore-39.5 per cent, Viluppuram-43.84 per cent and Virudhunagar-42.19 per cent.

Meanwhile, there was a substantial increase in the voter turnout charts across the states in the country, with North-Eastern state of Tripura still leading at 53.04 per cent till 1 pm as per the data released by the ECI.

Other Northeast states like Meghalaya (48.91) and Manipur (46.92) are also witnessing high voter turnout percentages.