Voter turnout in Lok Sabha constituency of Dharmapuri on Friday, stood at 81.48%, as per data released by the Returning Officer.
In Krishnagiri constituency, it stood at 71.31%, as per the final data released by the Krishnagiri Returning Officer.
As per data shared by the Collectorate in Dharmapuri, the highest turnout has been in the Palacode segment , followed by Harur , Dharmapuri, Pappireddipatti, Mettur and Pennagaram.
Of the six segments in Krishnagiri, Vepenahalli recorded the highest voter turnout, while Hosur recorded the lowest.
As of 5 p.m., in the Dharmapuri constituency, 1,121,010 electors had cast their votes out of 1,524,896 registered voters. Similarly, in Krishnagiri, 11,57,412 electors had cast their votes out of 16,23,179 registered voters.
Reports of omission of 200 electors from the rolls were received by officials in Dharmapuri and a few were reported in Krishnagiri.
Polling proceeded smoothly in most parts of Dharmapuri, except for a boycott staged by villagers of Jyothihalli, demanding a railway bridge across the Salem-Bengaluru railway line.
“Essential services such as ambulances and school vans have to travel extra 10 km to reach the village, due to the lack of a bridge atop the railway line,” one of the villagers said.
In Krishnagiri, several hamlets in the hilly parts of the constituency boycotted polling due to the lack of basic amenities such as drinking water and proper roads in their villages.
Few senior citizens over the age of 85 were observed arriving to cast their votes at polling booths in both constituencies. Dharmapuri District Returning Officer and Collector, K. Shanthi, mentioned earlier that the majority of them had voted through postal ballots.
In the latter half of polling, the Pattali Makal Katchi’s (PMK) Dharmapuri candidate, Sowmiya Anbumani, visited the Avvaiyar Government Girls Higher Secondary school. “People have come out to vote even in the heat, partly because of their sense of duty and the arrangements made by election officials,” she said.
After casting his vote at the Panchayat Union Primary School in Karimangangalam, DMK candidate A. Mani said, “It is good to see first time voters come out in large numbers to cast their ballots.”
In Krishnagiri, voters were abuzz when Naam Thamilar Katchi’s (NTK) Lok Sabha candidate Vidya Rani Veerapan, daughter of the slain forest brigand, Veerapan, cast her vote at a polling station in Pochampalli.
“Political rivals must not attempt to malign me, like they did to my father. I am more a daughter of Tamil Nadu than a political representative,” she said.
