Though polling was peaceful in the city’s southern suburbs, many voters complained there was a complacency among booth officials and police officials in-charge. Not many of the rules laid down by Election Commission were followed by party sympathisers and policing was ineffective.
At a polling booth in Rajakilpakkam, wheel chairs were not available for the elderly who came early. However, brand new wheel chairs were made available after 9.30 a.m. and by then, more than 25 physically challenged voters had cast their votes, said H. Saifuddin.
A similar problem was faced by the physically challenged at Government Girls Higher Secondary School, Nanganallur, where the wheel chair was not made available. First-time voters M. Sasikala and her sisters M. Saranya and M. Saraswathi of Pallavaram, who voted in St. Therasa’s Girls Higher Secondary School in Cantonment Pallavaram, said they were satisfied with the security and other arrangements.
Women voters outnumbered men at polling stations in the city’s suburban constituencies such as Alandur, Pallavaram and Tambaram. A lot of enthusiasm was seen in both women and youth waiting in queues in front of various polling stations in the Assembly segments of Sholinganallur, Alandur and Pallavaram.
Polling started on a low key in the morning, but picked up later in the day.
