Chennai, Apr 23 (PTI) Voting for the Tamil Nadu Assembly election commenced at 7 AM on Thursday amidst tight security with people briskly lining up in front of the polling stations across the state.
The
key contenders for power are the ruling DMK and main opposition AIADMK while actor-politician Vijay-led TVK and Tamil nationalist Seeman-led NTK are putting up a determined fight.
Tamil Nadu's electorate is 5.73 crore strong and they will vote in as many as 75,064 polling stations in 33,133 locations to decide the fortunes of 4,023 candidates. The total electorate comprises 2.93 women, 2.83 crore men, and 7,728 third-gender persons.
The Election Commission has deployed 1,06,418 ballot units along with 75,064 control units and VVPAT machines.
To prevent any technical delays, a reserve of 20 per cent for EVMs and 30 per cent for VVPATs is being maintained, according to officials.
To ensure peaceful polling, 300 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) have been deployed, alongside 83,875 state police personnel. PTI VGN VGN KH
