Tamil Nadu witnessed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leveling allegations surrounding missing names from the voters' list during the Lok Sabha polls as the saffron party raised concerns over what they perceive as political interference. K Annamalai, the State BJP chief and candidate for the Coimbatore seat, voiced these concerns and further demanded re-polls in areas where this issue was prevalent, indicating suspicions of political meddling due to the absence of numerous BJP cadres' names.
"We saw complaints from a large number of voters on their names being missing from the voters' list. This happened in many places. We are demanding re-poll in places where the names of a large number of voters were missing. We have a doubt that there was some political interference because the names of a large number of BJP caders were missing from the voters list," he said, as quoted by news agency ANI.
Vinoj P Selvam, BJP's candidate from the central Chennai constituency, echoed similar sentiments, denouncing what he termed as "complete failure" on the part of the state government.
Selvam alleged a deliberate effort to disenfranchise potential BJP voters, citing the deletion and shifting of names in a purported malpractice orchestrated by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). "A lot of conduct violation has happened today," Selvam remarked, stressing continuous complaints raised with the Election Commission regarding alleged irregularities, as per ANI.
"The police are supposed to be acting. They're supposed to be working as servants of the government, not of the DMK. So the BJP has been resisting, we've been challenging, we've been fighting it out on the field," he added.
Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Tamil Nadu Records Voter Turnout Of 72%
The concerns over electoral integrity emerged amidst Tamil Nadu recording a voter turnout of 72.09 per cent in the Lok Sabha polls held in a single phase. With no major untoward incidents reported, the state deployed about 1.3 lakh police personnel and 190 companies of Central Armed Police forces to ensure free and fair polls across 68,321 polling stations, news agency PTI reported. Tamil Nadu's Chief Electoral Officer, Satyabrata Sahoo, noted minor incidents, primarily of an argumentative nature, while highlighting a peaceful polling process.
Despite the overall smooth conduct of elections, instances of glitches in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were reported in some areas, and promptly rectified by authorities, PTI's report stated. The polling process, commencing briskly at 7 AM, experienced a temporary slowdown by noon before picking up momentum towards the conclusion of voting.
Various constituencies witnessed varying voter turnouts, with Kallakurichi recording the highest percentage at 75.67% and Central Chennai the lowest at 67.35%. Notable candidates in key constituencies included Dayanidhi Maran, Vinoj P Selvam, and Parthasarathy.
The electoral contest remained three-way, dominated by the ruling DMK, AIADMK, and BJP.