CHENNAI: A small step for democracy, a giant leap for special intensive revision (SIR). That probably explains the 85.15% voter turnout in the Tamil Nadu assembly election on Thursday.Polling this time was the highest in the state’s electoral history, with 4.85 crore of the 5.73 crore on the electoral rolls casting their votes. This appears to be a sharp rise from the 73.63% recorded in the 2021 polls, but, in absolute terms, the increase was modest: only 21.67 lakh more voters turned up, accounting for a 3.7% rise over the number of voters in the previous assembly election.The higher turnout percentage was largely due to the SIR, which removed around 57 lakh names, bringing down the electorate from 6.29 crore to 5.73 crore.Chief minister M K Stalin said the higher turnout was laudable. “This responsible act of people to safeguard democracy by exercising their franchise was heartening,” he saidThe 16 constituencies in Chennai recorded 23.6 lakh votes, a turnout of 83.7 %. Nevertheless, in terms of absolute number of voters, there was a dip of 47,000 votes, in contrast to the marginal increase in other parts of the state.Karur district in central Tamil Nadu topped the state with 92.64% polling. The Karur assembly segment, where 41 people died in a stampede during Vijay’s roadshow last year, saw around 93% turnout. Western districts including Dharmapuri, Erode, Namakkal and Salem recorded turnout above 90%.In contrast, southern districts lagged. Kanyakumari recorded the lowest turnout at 75.6%. Killiyoor assembly constituency in Kanyakumari recorded the lowest polling in the state, with only 71.29% of its 2.45 lakh voters casting their ballots.The day started with a brisk polling, with 17% turnout recorded by 9am, rising to 37% by 11am. By 3pm, turnout crossed 70% and reached 82.24% by 5pm. According to the Election Commission of India, the final figure stood at 85% as of 10.05pm.The day was not without tension. A police head constable posted for election polling day duty was stabbed by an ex-serviceman near Mayiladuthurai on Thursday. Police arrested the attacker, who “harboured a hatred towards policemen and has a history of attacking them”. The head constable is out of danger and is undergoing treatment.Minor clashes were reported between DMK, AIADMK and TVK workers in a few parts of the state. In Harbour constituency in Chennai, supporters of HR&CE minister P K Sekarbabu and TVK candidate Ashok had a scuffle. Similar incidents were reported in Salem and Coimbatore.There were also EVM glitches in a few booths, causing temporary delays. In one case, a TVK functionary was arrested for allegedly filming his vote inside a polling station and uploading it on social media, violating ballot secrecy norms.
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