Tamil Nadu goes to polls under tight security blanket

Voting began this morning across the 39 Lok Sabha constituencies in Tamil Nadu, under a tight security blanket. An estimated 5.50 crore electorate will decide the electoral fortunes of 845 Lok Sabha aspirants.

Among the 9,226 booths in the state, Stella Marrys College booth in Chennai was the centre of attraction, considering Tamil Nadu's senior political leaders and celebrities vote here.

Polling started at around 7 in the morning. In few booths it started 30 minutes late as the voting machines had some problem.

Early voters included Tamil Film Star Rajinikanth, at Stella Marrys College, who came around 7.30 in morning. Few streets away, his colleague Kamal Haasan cast his vote. Speaking to reporters, Kamal Haasan said that corruption has been a major problem and it is high time to address this.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalaithaa came to Stella Marrys College around 9.15 in the morning along with her friend Sasikala. After casting her vote, Jayalalithaa said, "I request all parties and public to co-operate with the Election Commission to conduct a peaceful, free and fair Election. I reserve all comments till results are declared".

The booths across the state had a mix of young voters, middle-age and senior citizens. Of the total 5.50 crore voters, young voters accounts for around 21.91% of the total electorate. Of them, first-time voters, account 2.74% of the total electorate.