Brisk polling in Tamil Nadu, rival fronts confident (Second Lead)
April 13th, 2011 - 12:34 pm ICT by IANSChennai, April 13 (IANS) Brisk polling was reported in Tamil Nadu Wednesday to elect 234 members to the 14th state assembly, with the ruling DMK and opposition AIADMK leading the two rival fronts.
About 47 million people are eligible to exercise their franchise. A total of 2,748 candidates, including 141 women, are in the fray.
Voting began at 8 a.m. and people began assembling at the polling booth from 7.30 a.m. not only to avoid the scorching sun later in the day but also to prevent others from casting the vote in their name.
Technical glitches held up polling in some booths, but these were quickly set right.
Speaking to reporters here after casting her vote, AIADMK general secretary J. Jayalalithaa predicted a landslide victory for her alliance and a clear majority for her party. AIADMK is contesting in 160 seats.
Terming the DMK corrupt, she said: “There has been corruption earlier, but not on this scale. Not only the 2G spectrum scam, but people are also aware of scams in granite quarrying, sand mining and others.”
Chief Minister and DMK chief M. Karunanidhi also cast his vote.
Both Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa are contesting.
Tamil Nadu’s Deputy Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and Finance Minister K. Anbazhagan predicted a landslide victory for the DMK-led front.
Though the Election Commission had said there would be a separate queue for senior citizens, that was not the case in many places. However, senior citizens got precedence over others.
Movie theatre owners association have decided to suspend screening of two shows across the state to enable people to go out and vote.
Around 4.71 crore voters - around 2.37 crore men, 2.34 crore women and 1,169 transgenders - are expected to decide the fate of the 2,748 candidates.
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Tags: 14th state, aiadmk, booths, deputy chief minister, dmk, election commission, finance minister, general secretary, granite, j jayalalithaa, landslide victory, movie theatre, polling booth, precedence, scams, senior citizens, stalin, state assembly, technical glitches, transgenders