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Voters are braving the searing heat to exercise their franchise as polling for the Lok Sabha elections got underway on a steady note in the six constituencies in Central Tamil Nadu on Friday.
Several voters lined up at the polling stations to cast their votes early in the morning to beat the heat. By noon, the temperature had touched 102 degrees Fahrenheit.
Tamil Nadu Lok Sabha elections, Phase 1 LIVE Updates | 24.37% votes polled till 11 a.m.
Some constituencies such as Karur and Perambalur registered brisk polling in the first four hours. In Karur 28.88% of the voters had cast their voters by 11 a.m. and in Perambalur the figure was 28.81%. The polling percentage was comparatively lower in Tiruchi at 22.77%. Thanjavur recorded 25.19% polling , Nagapattinam 25.96% and Mayiladuthurai 23.29% as of 11 a.m.
BJP State President K. Annamalai and the party’s candidate for Coimbatore constituency, cast his vote at Thottampatti near Aravakurichi, his hometown in Karur district.
VCK chief and Chidambaram Lok Sabha candidate Thol. Thirumavalavan, cast his vote at a polling booth at Anganur near Ariyalur | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan, who is contesting from the Chidambaram constituency, cast his vote at a polling station at Anganur near Ariyalur.
Polling was largely incident-free, barring slight delays due to EVM malfunctions at one or two places.
Vengaivayal Dalits boycott polls
Dalit residents of Vengaiyavayal in Tiruchi Lok Sabha constituency did not exercise their franchise as noon, as they had decided to boycott the election in protest against the failure of the police to crack the case on the mixing of human faeces in an overhead water tank that supplied drinking water to 30 Dalit families in the village in December 2022.
Vengaivayal Dalit residents wore black masks and held placards stating their intention to boycott the polls | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The Dalit residents, wearing black masks, staged a demonstration holding placards. “We drank water mixed with faeces; we cannot vote happily. Do corpses have the right to vote?” read one of their placards.
Meanwhile, caste Hindus at the adjacent Eraiyur village too, staged a demonstration holding black flags claiming that they too, had lost their peace as the culprits in the case have not been found yet.
Officials are holding talks with both the Dalits of Vengaivayal and caste Hindus at Eraiyur.
