Tamil Nadu: Voter participation in Tiruchy’s Lok Sabha election falls to 67.45%

With the exception of a few isolated violent occurrences, Friday’s election in the Tiruchy Lok Sabha seat was uneventful. Official data that is currently available indicates that the district’s voter turnout was 67.45%. This number is less than the 71.80% that was seen during the general election of 2019. Voters arrived at their designated booths early in the morning, despite the extreme heat.

In an attempt to dodge the searing heat, senior residents flocked to every voting place starting at 7 am. At Tiruchy, the temperature reached a high of 41.3 degrees Celsius on Friday. In Tiruchy, the majority of businesses, restaurants, and small stores were closed on Friday. This occurs after the state government declared Friday to be a paid holiday earlier.

Residential neighborhoods also had their shops and other business facilities shuttered. Around 1:00 pm, K Sakthivel, a 34-year-old textile business employee, cast his ballot. In contrast to past elections, his owner chose to close so that two of his employees could vote. Since I didn’t have to go to work today, I took my time casting my ballot. If not, I would have needed to finish this procedure by nine in the morning,” he said.

Roughly 10.99 lakh of the 15.44 lakh eligible voters in the constituency cast ballots. In terms of poll percentage, female voters outweighed male voters. Comparing the turnout in the Tiruchy West, East, and Thiruverumbur seats, it was better in the Srirangam, Gandarvakottai, and Pudukkottai segments. The electoral commission also established model polling places, such as ones reserved for women and voters with disabilities, in each of the district’s nine Assembly seats to enhance the voting experience. Durai Vaiko, the MDMK candidate, expressed optimism that the INDIA group will win 40 seats in the meanwhile.

After casting his ballot at Vestry Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School, Durai Vaiko spoke to the media and said that the chief minister had implemented several charity programs over the previous three years, despite the state’s dire financial situation. Thus, he said, the 40 state and Puducherry seats would be won by the DMK-led INDIA coalition. When questioned about the claims made by an independent candidate running on the MDMK’s behalf about the transfer of cash in exchange for votes, the party’s main secretary called them unfounded.