India Polls: Tamil Nadu to elect 38 MPs
CHENNAI: People in Tamil Nadu are voting in the Indian polls today. The southern tip state contributes 38 MPs in Lok Sabha. The vote counting would be held on May 23.
While national parties such as the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress dominate national politics, their role in Tamil Nadu is minuscule.
The politics in TN is in the grasp of two regional parties — the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and All India Amma Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK).
AIADMK which led the opposition is aligned to the BJP whereas DMK is aligned to Congress.
This is the first election where both the parties are going into the polls without their idolised leaders: – J Jayalalitha for AIADMK and M Karunanidhi for DMK. Both have passed away.
AIADMK is now led by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and DMK, MK Stalin.
Other parties contesting the polls are TTV Dinakaran’s Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) and Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM).
Key constituencies among others are Sivaganga, Dindigul, Dharmapuri, Chennai South, Chennai North, Chennai Central, Chidambaram, Coimbatore, Thoothukudi, Kanyakumari, Karur, Nilgiris, Arani and Trichy.
There would be no polls in Vellore as the Election Commission has cancelled the polls there.
At the state assembly level which has a total 234 seats, AIADMK has 114 members (including the Speaker), DMK 88, its allies Congress and Indian Union Muslim League 8 and 1 respectively and Dhinakaran is an Independent member. Twenty-two seats are vacant and by-election will be held for 18 of these.
As of 1pm, 39.49% voters casted their votes. A total of 384 electronic voting machines (EVM) and 692 voter verifiable paper audit trails (VVPATs) have been changed so far.
The Tamil Nadu film fraternity also joined in the fray in casting their votes. Female lead Regina Cassandra took to her Instagram to encourage the people in Tamil Nadu to vote.
“You have a right and a duty. To all those people who say “what’s the use of voting”, learn to take responsibility for your actions. You don’t go out and vote today, then you have no right to comment tomorrow,” she said on Instagram.
While most people in Tamil Nadu are casting their votes, their fellow Indians in Malaysia have not been able to do so.
Sarfraz Nawaz, 35, an Indian citizen working in Malaysia was saddened over the fact that he would not be able to participate in the election ‘festival’ in TN.
He is hopeful that the Indian government would one day enable him to cast his vote via the Indian high commission.
