52.02 pc voter turnout in TN till 3 PM

A little over half of Tamil Nadu's over 5.84 crore voters cast their votes in 38 Lok Sabha seats Thursday till 3 PM, even as the DMK charged the ruling AIADMK with planning to do "booth-capturing" later in the day.

Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Satyabrata Sahoo said no reports of booth capturing or any other untoward incident regarding law and order has been received so far.

He said the voter turnout in 38 Lok Sabha segments stood at 52.02 per cent at 3 PM, while maintating that polling was peaceful.

Karur recorded the highest voter turnout at 56.85 per cent while Chennai Central clocked the lowest at 45.65 per cent, according to the EC data.

At 3 PM, the turnout was 55.97 per cent in the 18 Assembly segments where bypolls are being held along with the Lok Sabha elections.

Sahoo said that while the polling would come to a close by 6 PM, those already in the queue would be allowed to cast their votes even after the deadline as officials would provide tokens for this purpose.

Meanwhile, the DMK filed a complaint with the CEO and the DGP (Elections), Ashutosh Shukla, alleging that the ruling AIADMK planned to do "booth-capturing" after 3 PM.

They demanded that the officials put in all measures to ensure transparent elections.

Responding to this, Sahoo said polling has been peaceful so far.

"We have not received any report of booth capturing, neither are there any law and order issues," he said.

Earlier, Chief Minister K Palaniswami and DMK chief M K Stalin waited in queues at Edappadi in Salem district and Chennai, respectively and cast their votes.

After casting his vote, Stalin alleged that there has been distribution of cash and accused the Election Commission of being an "ally" of central and state governments.

Union minister Pon Radhakrishnan, DMK's Dayanidhi Maran and Kanimozhi and Karti Chidambaram of Congress are among key contenders.

Radhakrishnan told reporters in Kanyakumari: "This is a massive democratic festival which will decide the fate of India. I have exercised my franchise...A silent revolution is happening."
AIADMK leader and state minister D Jayakumar said 13 per cent voting in the morning "is a joyous thing."
Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam leader T T V Dhinakaran alleged "malfunctioning of EVMs is an achievement of the Modi government."