The people of Tamil Nadu are set to decide the constitution of their 17th state assembly through polling across 234 assembly constituencies on Thursday. The state's total electorate comprises 57,343,291 voters, including 29,304,905 women, 28,030,658 men, and 7,728 transgenders. A total of 4,023 candidates are in the fray, with 3,579 men, 443 women, and one transgender candidate. Karur constituency has the most candidates with 79 names in the fray.
Sholinganallur has the highest number of electors (536,991) while Harbour constituency has the lowest (116,896). Over 147,000 state police personnel have been deployed to maintain tight vigil at all booths. Polling will commence at 7am and conclude at 6pm.
The poll panel has deployed around 1,700 CAPF companies for the elections. A state media control room has been set up to monitor print media, electronic media, and social media platforms. An operational control room has been established to monitor the movement of GPS-enabled vehicles dispatched to polling booths.
A master control room has been set up to monitor polling through live webcasts, with over 15 million CCTV cameras installed across polling booths. The state transport department has announced an additional special fleet of 6,234 buses to enable voters to travel to their constituencies easily.
The contest is primarily between the ruling DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance and the AIADMK-led National Democratic Alliance. Actor-politician Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) has also entered the fray. The votes will be counted on May 4.
