Kilvelur, a reserved Assembly constituency in Nagapattinam district, has recorded the highest voter turnout in the State at 91.89 per cent .
Totally, 1.29 lakh persons in the constituency cast their votes in the Wednesday's Assembly elections, of whom 62,463 were men and 67,219 were women.
Kilvelur has set one more record, as it registered the maximum turnout of women voters —95.57 per cent.
In yet another way, this constituency is notable as Tirukuvalai, where Chief Minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M. Karunanidhi was born, forms part of Kilvelur.
Dairy Development Minister U. Mathivanan, who represents the Tiruvarur constituency in the outgoing House, is in the fray and his main rival is P. Mahalingam of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
In terms of overall voter turnout, Kilvelur is followed by Veerapandi of Salem district, where 89.07 per cent polling was registered. In total, 1.79 lakh voters exercised their franchise, of whom 91,839 were men and 87,633 women. Here, the sitting MLA and Agriculture Minister Veerapandi S. Arumugam's son A. Rajendran is taking on former MLA and AIADMK nominee S.K. Selvam.
This constituency has a record to its credit with the maximum turnout of men voters – 89.44 per cent.
Kulithalai in Karur district comes third, where 88.66 per cent polling has been registered. Represented by Mr. Karunanidhi during 1957-62, this constituency sees a contest between former Minister and AIADMK nominee Pappa Sundaram and R. Manickam of the DMK.
As regards constituencies having lesser turnout, Harbour in Chennai saw the minimum turnout of 63.65 per cent. Killiyoor and Colachel of Kanyakumari district recorded 64.07 per cent and 64.13 per cent polling.
Tiruvarur, a constituency in which Mr. Karunanidhi is contesting for the first time, witnessed 82.13 per cent polling. About 1.71 lakh persons had exercised their franchise, of whom men were 83,292, women – 88,633 and transgender – 2.
Srirangam, where AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa is in the fray, had recorded 80.95 per cent polling. Totally, 1.78 lakh persons had voted, of whom men were 89,916, women – 88,951 and transgender – 1.
In Rishivandiyam, where Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam founder Vijayakant is taking on the sitting MLA and Congress nominee S. Sivaraj, the voter turnout was 82.75 per cent with 74.32 per cent of men voters and 91.76 per cent of women voters exercising their franchise. Around 1.71 lakh voters had cast their votes.
The constituencies, where sitting Ministers are contesting and which have witnessed higher turnout than the State average of 78.12 per cent are Kurinjipadi (86.38 per cent); Tiruchuli (83.91 per cent); Athoor (83.81 per cent); Aruppukottai (83.06 per cent); Villupuram (82.04 per cent); Madathukulam (81.22 per cent ) Tiruvannamalai (80.71 per cent), Alangulam (80.68 per cent) and Katpadi (80.14 per cent). M.R.K. Paneerselvam, Thangam Thennarasu, I. Periyasamy, K.K.S.S.R. Ramachandran, K. Ponmudy, Vellakoil M.P. Saminathan, E.V. Velu, Poongothai and Durai Murugan are contesting from these constituencies respectively.
Senior AIADMK leaders, K.A. Sengottaiyan and O. Paneerselvam, are contesting from Gobichettypalayam and Bodinayackanur, where 83.29 per cent and 81.07 per cent poling have been registered. Aranthangi, through which former Minister and Congress nominee S. Thirunavukkarsar is seeking to enter the Assembly after a gap of 12 years, has registered 74.81 per cent.
Mettur, where Pattali Makkal Katchi president G.K. Mani is in the fray, has recorded 79.46 per cent. Dindigul, from where the CPI (M) legislature party leader in the outgoing Assembly K. Balabharathi is trying to secure one more term, has witnessed 76.61 per cent polling.
A total of 134 transgendered persons have voted, of whom Tiruchi district accounts for 29; Karur – 26; Chennai – 22, Tiruvallur – 19, Ramanathapuram – 10, Villupuram – 8, Salem – 6 Erode – 4, Nammakal – 3, Tiruvarur, Theni and Tirunelveli – 2 each and Cuddalore – 1.
