TUTICORIN: In Ettayapuram, famous for revolutionary poet Subramania Bharathi, a different kind of revolt is unfolding. The villagers of Kulathuvaipatti and Kumaragiri of Ettayapuram, which comes under Vilathikulam constituency, have sworn themselves off the polling booth over a "pathway dispute".
For many years, the villagers have been fighting with the residents of a Sri Lankan refugee camp in the area over public access to the pathway that cuts across the camp to the agricultural lands. The tension reached a breaking point on April 18, when a stone-pelting clash left the community scarred and the path further obstructed.
Now, frustrated after a decade of black flag protests, hunger strikes, and sieges at the Tehsildar’s office, the villagers have decided to boycott the 2026 Assembly election, until "a solution is found".
Officials at the polling booth No 64 at the Panchayat Union Primary School in Vilathikulam constituency on Thursday confirmed that of the 983 registered voters there, only five votes had been cast by mid-day. Besides Kulathuvaipatti and Kumaragiri, polling station also caters to voters of Sothunaickanpatti and Ammampadam, the officials said.
Polling for election to 234 Assembly seats was underway across Tamil Nadu on Thursday.