Erode East bypoll: 26.03% voter turnout recorded till 11 am

CHENNAI: Erode (East) constituency recorded a brisk voter turnout of 26.03 per cent till 11 am on Wednesday.

It was 10.95 percent at 9 a.m. The polling was peaceful at the 237 polling stations in the constituency.

A total of 46 candidates are in the fray in the by-polls necessitated by the demise of Congress MLA EVKS Elangovan. DMK’s VC Chandhirakumar and Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK’s) MK Seethalakshmi are crossing swords as main opposition political parties boycotted the polls.

“DMK does rising sun symbol will achieve a big win because of the welfare schemes implemented by the Dravidian model government over the last four years,” said DMK candidate VC Chanthirakumar to the media after casting his vote at a polling booth in Mosuvanna Street.

NTK candidate Seethalakshmi, who does not have a vote in the constituency, inspected the polling stations and said people are turning up eagerly to exercise their franchise. She however blamed the election authorities of indifference.

“I was asked to take away the towel on my shoulder while visiting the polling stations, whereas the DMK candidate is allowed with a towel. Is this a democracy? There are no equal rights for all,” she said.

Further, the NTK candidate said that even though a holiday has been declared for organizations in Erode East constituency, the daily wagers tend to skip polling and go for work in areas like Modakurichi. So the District Collector should immediately declare a public holiday for the entire district to increase the voting per cent,” she said.

District Collector Raja Gopal Sunkara, who cast his vote in a polling station in Sampath Nagar, urged the electorate in the constituency to exercise their democratic right without fail.

There are 2, 27,546 registered voters- 1, 10,128 male, 1, 17,381 female and 37 persons from other gender. More than 1,500 police and three companies of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) were deployed for security.