Polling ends peacefully in southern districts

A good number of first time voters enthusiastically exercise their franchise

Except for a few incidents, polling for the urban local bodies election in the southern districts (Madurai, Dindigul, Theni, Virudhunagar, Ramanathapuram, Sivaganga, Thoothukudi, Tenkasi, Tirunelveli and Kanniyakumari) ended on a peaceful note on Saturday.

While polling started briskly in many rural pockets in town panchayat and municipal wards, it was very dull in Corporation wards. In the southern districts, election was held for Madurai, Dindigul, Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Sivakasi and Nagercoil Corporations.

In Palayamkottai, many first time voters enthusiastically exercised their franchise, displaying their voter identity cards at the polling stations. In Thoothukudi, for the first time, Narikurava community people cast their votes, thanks to the district administration which issued them voter ID cards and included their names in the voter list.

In Dindigul Corporation wards, minor skirmishes were reported between the DMK and the AIADMK functionaries. In Theni Allinagaram, a woman, Podumani, 47, who recently lost both her legs while working in a private mill, was assisted by volunteers at the polling station at the Government School to cast her vote.

When a polling agent of a BJP candidate made some remarks about a woman voter having covered her face with hijab in a ward in Melur Municipality in Madurai district, the DMK agent raised an objection. Sensing trouble, police took the BJP’s agent out. The party functionaries demanded his release.

The BJP functionaries complained of non-functioning of CCTV cameras in a polling station in Madurai. They were set right after higher officials swung into action.

In Paramakudi Municipality, four women and a man squatted in front of a polling station after they were told that their votes had already been cast, and demanded an inquiry. Polling officials directed them to cast their votes and recorded them as tender votes.

In Virudhunagar district, there were complaints of delay in voting at many polling stations. The voters claimed that booth slips were not distributed to them and they had to search their names and booths in the voter list book. There was no assistance offered to them and it was the reason for the delay, they said.

In municipal and town panchayat wards, women waited in long queues to vote. While most of the voters from rural pockets carried their EPIC with them, many voters in urban pockets showed their ID proof in their mobile phones.

In some polling stations, voters insisted on getting a glove to cast their votes in the EVMs. Hand sanitiser was kept at the entrance of each booth.