A high polling rate marked assembly elections in South India today, as the fate of southern stalwarts like J Jayalalithaa and M Karunanidhi in Tamil Nadu and V S Achuthanandan in Kerala got sealed.
According to the official estimates, voter turnout was 84 per cent in Puducherry, 75 per cent in Kerala and 75-80 per cent in Tamil Nadu. The electorates, however, will have to wait till May 13 to know the fate of their candidates in these three places, as the Election Commission has decided to count the votes only after the West Bengal election gets over.
The run-up to this phase had witnessed a high-pitched battle between various political parties and re-alignment of forces. Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK joined hands with Vijayakanth’s DMDK to take on the Karunanidhi’s DMK-led ruling alliance with the Congress.
While the Congress central leadership thinks it will be a tough fight in Tamil Nadu, it is hopeful of a comfortable win in neighbouring Kerala. Both Tamil Nadu and Kerala have a tradition of voting decisively in one or the other side’s favour. A split verdict or a hung assembly is not a common phenomenon.
In Puducherry, the ruling Congress is fighting to survive the attack of its former chief minister-turned rebel N Rangasamy’s All India NR Congress. It has formed an alliance with AIADMK and other parties.
This was the first election after the government granted voting rights to Non-Resident Indians (NRIs). But it didn’t generate huge response, especially in Kerala. While an estimated 2.2 million Malayalis live abroad, mostly in Gulf countries, only 8,862 had registered themselves for the vote.
Overall, the polling day went off peacefully, according to EC sources. The Commission added that it had seized Rs 45 crore in Tamil Nadu (it later returned Rs 5.5 crore) of what appeared to be unaccounted money meant for use in poll-eve illegalities.
More From This Section
AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa was among the first voters, at the Stella Maris College polling booth. Speaking to reporters, she said her party-led alliance would win a landslide victory and a clear majority. “Corruption is one of the prime reasons for people to throw out the DMK and it has always been there but not on this scale.” It was not limited to the landmark telecom spectrum scam; locally, there have been a series of scams in granite quarrying, sand mining and so on, she added.
After casting his vote here, Chief Minister and DMK leader Karunanidhi, who is contesting from his native place, Tiruvarur, said the party’s chances were as bright as the rising sun, their symbol. The party is contesting only 119 of the 234 seats itself; it has given the rest to its allies.