Thattanchavady Assembly by-poll sees 39.16 per cent voter turnout till 11 am

PUDUCHERRY: Voting in the Thattanchavady Assembly by-election got underway on a steady note on Tuesday morning, recording a voter turnout of 39.16 per cent till 11 am.

The by-election was necessitated after Chief Minister N Rangasamy, who contested and won two assembly seats in the previous election, chose to vacate the Thattanchavady assembly seat to retain the Mangalam assembly constituency.

Thattanchavady has long been considered a bastion of Rangasamy.

Voting was underway smoothly across all polling booths. There are 31 polling stations and people turned up enthusiastically to exercise their franchise, official sources said.

There are 11 contestants, including five Independents. The main contest is between AINRC candidate Ashok Anand, the Congress candidate E Vinayagam and DMK's K Sedhu Selvam.