The month-long intense election campaign in ten Assembly segments in the district came to an end on Saturday evening without any untoward incidents.
Starting his last day campaign at Thaazhaiyooththu, Tirunelveli MLA Nainar Nagenthran, accompanied by party cadres, mobilised support for him at Sankar Nagar, Karaiyiruppu, Thatchanallur and wrapped up his electioneering in Tirunelveli Town.
The DMK cadres took out a rally from Pettai to Jawahar Grounds in Palayamkottai, where they wrapped up their electioneering. After taking pledge that they would always strive for transparent and corruption-free administration, the PMK candidates fielded in nine constituencies of the district took out small rallies in their constituencies before concluding their election campaign. The Bharatiya Janata Party cadres took out a rally from Tirunelveli Town Arch and wrapped up their campaign in front of Eesaana Vinayagar Temple near Swamy Nellaiyappar Temple.
While the ruling party during the election campaign harped on its “achievements and welfare schemes” executed over the past five years, the DMK appealed to the voters to put an end to the “corrupt, inefficient and authoritarian administration.”
Though the district witnessed an intense election campaign, which was enlivened by star campaigners like Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, DMK treasurer M.K. Stalin, BJP’s national president Amit Shah, MDMK general secretary Vaiko, PMK’s Chief Ministerial candidate Anbumani Ramadoss and a galaxy of cine stars hired by political parties and complaints on bribing of voters by two major parties in the fray, no poll-related violence was recorded in any part of the district, thanks to intense police patrolling and timely intervention in some places.
When a political party tried to mobilise women in large numbers for obvious reasons in a marriage hall in Palayamkottai near the ground where their leader was scheduled to address the voters, Collector C. Samayamoorthy and the Observers intervened at the right time to thwart the attempt.
The usually high-voltage last minute campaign was dampened by sudden downpour in several parts of the district. When Mr. Vaiko, after campaigning at Tirunelveli Junction and Melapalayam, arrived at Jawahar Grounds in Palayamkottai around 5 p.m. to address a decent crowd waiting for him, sudden downpour dampened their spirits. However, Mr. Vaiko, who was completely drenched in the sharp showers, continued to address the gathering even as candidate for Palayamkottai segment K.M.A. Nizam and renowned orthopaedic surgeon S. Ramaguru, who were on the stage were completely soaked.
In neighbouring Thoothukudi district, election campaign came to an end on Saturday evening without any untoward incidents though former ministers S.T. Chellapandian, Geetha Jeevan and Anita R. Radhakrishnan, actor and Akhila India Samaththuva Makkal Katchi president R. Sarathkumar and president of Puthiya Thamizhagam K. Krishnasamy are in the fray.
Nagercoil
Rain with thundershowers lashed many parts of Kanniyakumari district immediately after the election campaign of political parties ended at 6 p.m. on Saturday. Electioneering came to a close without any untoward incidents across the district, police sources said.
