All set for assembly bypolls in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry

Three Tamil Nadu assembly constituencies -- Thirupparankundram, Aravakkurichi and Thanjavur -- are all set for by-elections on Saturday as is the lone Nellithope constituency in Puducherry.

In Tamil Nadu, around 7.54 lakh voters are expected to exercise their vote and decide the fate of 81 candidates in fray.

According to the Election Commission, polling will start at 7.00 a.m. and would close at 5.00 p.m.

In Aravakkurichi, ruling AIADMK's V. Senthil Balaji will fight it out against the DMK's K.C. Palanisamy while at Thirupparankundram the AIADMK's A.K. Bose will take on the DMK's P. Saravanan.

In Thanjavur, the AIADMK's M. Rengasamy is pitted against thed DMK's Anjugam Bhoopathy.

Polling in Thanjavur and Aravakkurichi constituencies was cancelled by the Election Commission in May after complaints of malpractices erupted against both the AIADMK and DMK candidates.

In Thirupparankundram, the by-election has been necessitated by the death of AIADMK's legislator S.S. Seeivel.

While there are other parties in the contest, the contest is mainly between the AIADMK and the DMK in Tamil Nadu.

In Puducherry's Nellithope, Congress leader V. Narayanasamy is contesting against AIADMK nominee Om Sakthi Segar.

The counting of votes will be held on November 22.

--IANS

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