Voters turned up in good numbers since the polling began at 7 am in Kerala and an hour later in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry with no untoward incident reported so far.
In Tamil Nadu, 16 per cent voting was recorded for polls in 234 constituencies in the first three hours. Among the top leaders who cast their votes in Chennai were DMK President and Chief Minister Mr Karunanidhi, DMK Treasurer, Mr M.K.Stalin, AIDMK General Secretary Ms. Jayalalitha, Union Minister Mr G.K.Vasan.
Speaking to newsmen after casting their votes, both the DMK President and the AIADMK General Secretary expressed confidence that the fronts they were heading will emerge victorious and would form the government. Our correspondent who visited several booths in Chennai reports that there was great enthusiasm among voters who queued before polling booths even before voting commenced.
In Kerala, during the first three hours of assembly polling close to 16 percent vote has been cast. Polling started at 7 in the morning and is progressing smoothly across 140 constituencies amid tight security. Long queues of young and elderly voters were seen in several polling booths of the state well before 7 AM. In the single phase election in Kerala, the main tussle is between CPIM led ruling LDF and Congress led UDF. BJP is giving a tough fight to both the fronts in many constituencies. More than 2 crore 31 lakh voters of the state are eligible to cast vote. Female outnumber male voters in Kerala by sizable number. About 85,000 security personnel including central forces are ensuring peaceful polling in the state.