2026 TN elections | TVK chief Vijay seeks extended polling hours; Aadhav Arjuna alleges transport ‘sabotage’

CHENNAI: TVK chief Vijay on Thursday requested the Election Commission to extend polling by two hours till 8 PM for the Assembly elections being held across 234 constituencies in Tamil Nadu.

In a letter addressed to the Chief Election Commissioner, he also urged for deployment of emergency public transport services to facilitate a large number of people to cast their votes.

"There are reports from polling stations of voters waiting in long queues to cast their votes, but the polling process is slow. Such delays would discourage and may affect voter turnout. There should be designated supervisory officers to visit polling booths regularly and ensure that the voting process is conducted efficiently without unnecessary delays," he said.

Meanwhile, TVK leaders 'Bussy' N Anand and Aadhav Arjuna accused the state administration and transport department of "orchestrating a systemic failure" by denying essential bus services to voters during the elections.

Speaking to the media, TVK general secretary Anand highlighted that thousands of voters remained stranded at key bus terminals in Guduvanchery, Chengalpattu, and Koyambedu due to a severe lack of transport facilities.

"People had traveled from as far as Europe, the USA and Singapore to perform their democratic duty, only to be met with paralysed bus services and unmanaged traffic jams," he added.

Arjuna, general secretary for Election Campaign Management, accused the DMK-led government of intentionally "sabotaging" the poll turnout.

He alleged three senior IAS officers of Transport Department for ignoring the circulars from Chief Electoral Officer Archana Patnaik to provide adequate bus facilities.

"This is an intentional attempt at misplanning by the state transport corporation to prevent the one-finger revolution of the people," Arjuna said, demanding the immediate suspension of the three officials.

He further alleged that the "caretaker" Chief Minister M K Stalin was pressuring officials to curb voter movement out of fear of a massive electoral defeat.

Arjuna also alleged "bogus voting" in some constituencies, including Villivakkam, where he competes from, alleging that DMK cadres were attempting to exploit the absence of voters delayed by the transport chaos.