A large number of voters arrived at all the 967 polling booths across the four regions of the Union Territory to exercise their franchise for the Puducherry Lok Sabha constituency on Friday, April 19, 2024.
Barring a few polling booths in Kamaraj Nagar and Veerampattinam areas, voting commenced promptly at 7 a.m. In booths where minor glitches to Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were reported, election officials either replaced the EVMs or rectified the defects.
Puducherry Chief Minister and founder-leader of AINRC casting his vote at Thilaspet in Puducherry on Friday, April 19, 2024 | Photo Credit: Kumar SS
In many booths, enthusiastic voters were seen standing in queues from 6. 30 a.m. Election officials said around 14 per cent of the total electorate of 10,23, 699 exercised their franchise as of 10.30 a.m. Among those who cast their votes were Chief Minister N Rangasamy, BJP candidate A. Namassivayam, AIADMK candidate G. Thamizvendhan and former Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy.
Also read: Lok Sabha Elections 2024, phase 1 voting LIVE Updates
The U.T. has around 26, 959 first time voters. A. Lokeshwari, a first-year college student at Bharathidasan Government Women’s College, said voting for the first time has given her confidence to take own decisions.
“When I voted, the first issue that came up before me is the drug problem. There is also the issue of unemployment. I have voted for a government that can stop drug abuse and alcoholism,” she said.
Published - April 19, 2024 11:45 am IST
