Last-minute rush helped to scale up voter turnout: CEO

“Chennai which saw brisk polling till noon, faded out [later] with several booths remaining deserted. Labour-dominated Perambur sustained the queue in all its booths till 1pm, but post-lunch, the polling was low.

Last-minute rush helped the seat to scale up its poll percentage a little over 60 percent,” an official on poll duty told DT Next.  The Periyakulam Assembly seat, which witnessed problems due to faulty EVMs, also picked up its polling pace by noon, finally recording around 65 per cent turnout, sources said.

“Voters in rural areas have voted in large numbers but the polling was dull in Chennai, including the Perambur Assembly seat due to inactive AIADMK and DMK workers. Not much money was spent by the Dravidian majors and this is also a reason for low voter turnout in Perambur and three Lok Sabha seats in Chennai,” a former AIADMK MLA said.

The by-elections to Tamil Nadu in 18 seats were necessitated due to the disqualification of AIADMK MLAs by Assembly Speaker P Dhanapal for showing their allegiance to the rebel AMMK leader TTV Dhinakaran.

The State is also heading for bypolls to four more seats namely Aravakurichi, Ottapidaram, Thiruparankundram and Sulur. The results of all the 22 seats are crucial for the AIADMK government led by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami now sitting on wafer thin margin.