39 TN seats up for grabs in 1st phase of LS polls today
Approximately 6.23 crore voters in Tamil Nadu will vote across nearly 68,000 polling stations, deciding the fate of 950 candidates.
Polling materials carried as head load to hill villages in Namakkal
CHENNAI: The 2024 Lok Sabha polls will kick off Friday with polling for the first phase scheduled in 102 constituencies spread across 21 states and Union Territories, including 39 seats in Tamil Nadu and the lone Puducherry seat. Approximately 6.23 crore voters in Tamil Nadu will vote across nearly 68,000 polling stations, deciding the fate of 950 candidates.
Among the prominent faces in the fray are DMK’s Dayanidhi Maran (Central Chennai), A Raja (The Nilgiris), Kanimozhi (Thoothukudi), BJP’s L Murugan (The Nilgiris), Tamilisai Soundararajan (South Chennai), K Annamalai (Coimbatore), former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam (Ramanathapuram), Congress party’s Karti Chidambaram (Sivaganga) and AIADMK’s J Jayavardhan (South Chennai) and AMMK chief TTV Dhinakaran (Theni).
While the election will predominantly see a three-way battle in the State between the incumbent Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Tamil nationalist Naam Tamilar Katchi is pushing to make it four-cornered at least in some seats. The party has given 50 per cent of seats to women, including Vidhya Rani, daughter of slain forest brigand Veerappan.
The State will also witness bypoll to the Vilavancode Assembly constituency.
With the election mood set in pretty early in the State, with the commencement of repeated visits by PM Modi to gain a foothold in the Dravidian land, the fierce campaigns and acrimonious debates ranged from development to dynastic politics; Katchatheevu to Chinese incursions; and drug menace to Sanatana dharma slanging match.
In Puducherry, the fate of 26 candidates will be sealed when voters spread across four regions pick the lone MP from this union territory, where the fight is largely confined between the ruling BJP and Congress. BJP leader and Home Minister A Namassivayam, fielded on behalf of the AINRC-BJP combine, will face off against Congress MP and PCC president V Vaithilingam, while AIADMK’s G Tamizhvendhan is testing his luck as a debutant.
Voting will begin at 7 AM and end at 6 PM.