Superstar Rajinikanth stepped out early on Thursday morning to do his duty as a voter. He reached polling booth number 237 at Stella Maris College in Chennai as voting for the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections got underway across the state. Dressed simply, the megastar quietly cast his vote and, like many proud voters, showed his ink-marked finger after stepping out of the booth.
Across Tamil Nadu, polling is happening as part of the Assembly elections, and many well-known faces are joining ordinary citizens in the democratic process. Among them was actor S. Ajith Kumar, who cast his vote at a polling station in Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai.
Voting began on Thursday under strict security arrangements to ensure everything runs smoothly. People can cast their votes till 6:00 pm today. The counting of votes, which will decide the final results, is scheduled for May 4.
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According to Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer Archana Patnaik, the state has a massive electorate of over 5.73 crore voters. This includes 2,93,04,905 female voters, 2,80,30,658 male voters, and 7,728 third-gender voters. There are also 14,59,039 first-time voters and 68,501 service voters taking part. So far, 4,18,541 postal votes have already been received. To manage the results efficiently, 62 counting centres have been set up across the state.
The political battle this time is expected to be intense. On one side is the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance which includes parties like the Congress, DMDK, VCK. On the other side is National Democratic Alliance led by AIADMK with BJP and PMK as its partners. While the DMK is pushing its “Dravidian 2.0” vision, AIADMK-led alliance is aiming for strong comeback.
Adding more excitement to the contest, actor-turned-politician Vijay is entering electoral field for the first time with his party Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK). His debut could turn this election into three-cornered fight.