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In Tamil Nadu, policy decisions await new govt

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BS Reporter Chennai
Last Updated : Jan 20 2013 | 8:45 PM IST

As the new government in Tamil Nadu is expected to take charge in a month, all the policy decisions and new projects are on hold.

According to government sources, proposals worth Rs 8,000-10,000 crore will be evaluated during the period and would be placed on the new government's table.

Similarly, the state government's proposal to come out with new policies for sectors including bio-tech, clean energy, automotive and component makers, mine and water would also be taken up after the formation of the new government.

The state witnessed a record voter turnout of 78.12 per cent in brisk and peaceful polling to the 234 Legislative Assembly seats held on April 13. The Election Commission has ordered re-polling at seven booths in five constituencies.

The highest voter turnout of 86.06 per cent was reported in Karur, while the lowest was in Chennai, at 68.02 per cent. The results of the polls would be announced on May 13, 2011.

It may be noted that the highest turnout in the 2006 Assembly election was 70 per cent and that in the 2009 Lok Sabha election was 73 per cent.

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The re-polling, rescheduled for April 16, would be conducted in polling booths at Neyveli in Cuddalore district, Killiyoor in Kanyakumari district, Thiruvidaimarudur in Thanjavur district, Arni in Thiruvannamalai district and Bodinaicknaur in Theni district. The causes of repolling in these booths relate to various defects and mis-handling of electronic voting machines.

State chief electoral officer Praveen Kumar said the election process was peaceful and no major incidents were reported during the poll in Tamil Nadu. There have been no reports of violence or any untoward incidents, but faults in EVMs were reported in 65 places, of which a majority of the technical hitches were sorted out quickly, he said.

According to Kumar, the Election Commission has seized Rs 45 crore of what appeared to be unaccounted money, meant for use in poll-eve illegalities.

He said 53 people were arrested on bribery charges on April 11, and cases filed. Polls were boycotted at four places, including in Nilgiri, where 10,000 people boycotted due to a case with the forest office.

The state has around 47million voters and 2,748 candidates contested in 234 constituencies.

The ruling party Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the main opposition party All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) are fighting the election in coalitions, with DMK alliance having 8 parties and the AIADMK group having 11 allies.

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First Published: Apr 16 2011 | 12:52 AM IST

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