Tamil Nadu polls: Rajinikanth casts vote in Stella Maris as voting begins

Megastar Rajinikanth cast his vote on Tuesday at a polling booth in Stella Maris of Tamil Nadu's Thousand Lights constituency.

Polling across 234 assembly constituencies in 38 districts of the state begins at 7 am on Monday.

Meanwhile, a total of 3,998 candidates are in the poll fray.

In view of COVID-19, the number of polling stations has been increased to 88,937. As many as 74,162 personnel from Tamil Nadu Local and Armed Reserve (AR) Police, 8,010 personnel from Tamil Nadu Special Police (TSP) and 23, 200 personnel from the CAPF have been deployed for the elections, according to the Tamil Nadu Police.

34,130 non-police personnel have also been deployed, including Home Guard, Forest Guard, Retired Police, and ex-CAPF along with 6,350 police personnel and 12,411 Home Guard from other states.

The state had in the past witnessed fierce electoral battles between M Karunanidhi of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and J Jayalalitha of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) for over three decades. This time too the head-to-head battle in nearly 130 constituencies is between the two arch-rivals the ruling AIADMK and MK Stalin-led DMK, which has been out of power since 2011.

According to the Election Commission, as per the final electoral rolls of Special Summary Revision, 2021, the total electorate in Tamil Nadu is 6,26,74,446 including 3,08,38,473 males, 3,18,28,727 females and 7,246 third gender. The counting of votes will be done on May 2.