The overall polling percentage in Ramanathapuram, Theni, Dindigul and Sivaganga districts crossed the 50 % mark at 3 p.m. in southern Tamil Nadu, while Madurai and Tirunelveli were yet to reach the halfway mark, according to reports from the special control room.
The 10 districts of southern Tamil Nadu saw largely peaceful polling in almost all Municipal, Town Panchayat and Corporation wards on Saturday. The polling, which began at 7 a.m., was brisk in rural and semi-urban pockets, while it was dull in urban locations, polling officials said.
No booth slips in Virudhunagar
In Virudhunagar district, a lack of booth slips led to crowding in many of the booths. The slips containing the names and serial numbers of the voters as per the electoral roll help the polling officials and agents to easily identify the voter and mark their names in the roll.
A watchman at a school in Virudhunagar town complained that it was a major problem for the voters. Many voters turned up without the slips. “Most of the voters were asking for booth slips since morning. When the booth-level officers tried to distribute them inside the school premises, it led to so much crowding that the police had to ask them to leave the school,” he said.
Minor altercations in Dindigul
In Dindigul, there were minor altercations between the AIADMK and the DMK over distribution of money right near the polling station in the Corporation ward 4, 11 and neighbouring pockets. When police officers rushed to the spot, they chased away unauthorised persons.
In Tirunelveli, the polling percentage at 3 p.m. was 48.23. While the percentage was 57% in Town Panchayat wards and 56.27% in Municipal wards, it was only 41.35% in Corporation wards.
Sivaganga district also had 52.95 % of votes polled at 3 p.m. with a major contribution coming in from the 11 Town Panchayats wherein 57.40 % of votes were polled, while it was 49.95 % in Municipal wards.
Hijab issue
In the Melur Municipal ward elections in Madurai district, a hijab issue led to some uneasy moments at a polling station. It is said that a BJP booth agent created a ruckus demanding Muslim women remove their hijab (headscarf). At the Al-Ameen School in Melur, the BJP booth agent identified, as Giriraj, demanded that the women remove the hijab so that they could be identified as per the voter list. However, after the DMK booth agents demanded Giriraj be removed, he was replaced.
In Madurai city, polling had to be suspended for about an hour at the St Britto School as the CCTV cameras were not functioning. This was set right after the BJP booth agents raised a complaint.
According to the 3 p.m. data released by the officials, out of 13.43 lakh voters in Madurai Corporation, only 5.31 lakh voters had polled. While men had polled 41.49 %, women polled 37.63 % only, in the city wards. In Town Panchayat areas in Madurai district, the polling was brisk with 67.05 % votes polled; it was 55.89 per cent votes in Madurai's three Municipalities at 3 p.m.
