Tamil Nadu Rural Local Body Polls: 33.78 % Voter Turnout, AIADMK, DMK Cadre Engage In Fist Fight At Walajabad & Other Updates

Apart from the minor clash, in Ullavoor panchayat of Kancheepuram district, a name of the candidate was misspelt leading to confusion. 

A voter showing their indelible mark after casting their vote

Chennai: In yet another election in Tamil Nadu amidst the pandemic,  33.78 per cent voters turned out to cast their votes till 1 pm in the first phase of elections in the nine newly-formed districts to select the rural local body leaders on Wednesday. All polling booths, except a few of them reporting technical glitches and fights, reported a smooth voting process. The polling that started at 7 am is expected to continue till 6 pm.

In this election, AIADMK and DMK are majorly locking horns with each other in many constituencies of the nine-newly formed districts. A few other regional parties like PMK, NTK are also fighting to make their mark felt in the polls. 

In this backdrop, a few hours after the election started AIADMK and DMK party cadres began attacking each other in Sipot Government School of Wallajah constituency creating a flutter. The attack broke out after the party members accused each other of campaigning and attempting to seek votes through a window of the voting booth, according to a report on Polimer.

Initially, an altercation started on the issue but soon both of the cadre got into a fist fight inside the voting venue. The police personnel who were deployed nearby immediately rushed to stop the fight. They separated both the cadres and ensured that the voting booth returned back to normalcy. 

Apart from the minor clash, in Ullavoor panchayat of Kancheepuram district, a name of the candidate was misspelt which led to confusion and forced the poll officials to stop the voting process for a while. 

As of 1 pm, Villupuram recorded 43.4% of voter turnout followed by Tenkasi with 39.85% and Tirunelveli with 39.1% of voters exercising their democratic right on Wednesday, said the report.

However, on a positive note, 15 families in a tribal hamlet in Ranipet declared that their votes are not for sale and they are against bribery and receiving any kind of money or gifts distributed by contestants of the parties.