Brisk polling was reported in all the seven constituencies in Virudhunagar district after a poor turnout early in the morning due to overnight steady drizzle that continued till 8 a.m.
As the rain subsided, large number of men and women, many with umbrellas, joined the long queues, as seen in booths in Tiruchuzhi and Aruppukottai constituencies.
"Only 17 voters had turned up till 8 a.m. However, by 9 a.m. it crossed 100 after rain stopped," a booth agent said in Kariyapatti.
Voting percentage till 11 a.m. in Virudhunagar district:
Rajapalayam: 32.25%
Srivilliputtur: 21.48%
Sattur:35.16%
Sivakasi: 26%
Virudhunagar:16%
Aruppukottai:40%
Tiruchuzhi: 23.3%
A total of 12 per cent of voters had turned up in all seven Assembly constituencies of Rajapalayam, Srivilliputtur, Sattur, Sivakasi, Virudhunagar, Aruppukottai and Tiruchuli by 9 a.m.
With the wet spell, even the police and central para-military personnel who were deployed at the polling stations tried to remain under shelter.
There was not much issue for the voters in parking the vehicles closer to the polling stations.
Though people came enthusiastically to vote, it was not the case of booth agents of candidates as only five of them were seen in the booth in Kariyapatti, whereas a total of 18 candidates were in fray.
Voters who had not got their voter slips were distributed at the polling station.
A group of young voters at the booth were excited after they had cast their votes for the first time. "I was till bit nervous as enter the booth. It was more on seeing a gun-totting security personnel," said A. Balakrishnan, a sophomore of a local engineering college.
Similar was the experience for S. Prasad, K. Karthik and M. Kather Hussain.
However, they were unanimous when they said that there was no confusion for them to vote. "It took two to three minutes for going through the process of identification till voting. However, since I had made up my mind for who to vote, it took no time to press the button," Balakrishnan said.
Though the youths said that no one distributed money in their locality, Pandian NAgar, they said they would not take even if they were offered.
"Its like selling our democratic right," Hussain said.
Similarly, the youngsters said that they were not after freebies offered by the Government. "After all its our tax money," one of them said.
