65 per cent polling in Andipatti

Andipatti, Tamil Nadu, May 8 : The voter turnout in Andipatti, from where Chief Minister and AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa is seeking re-election, registered 65 per cent today.

Returning Officer S Suryanarayanan told UNI that the election went off peacefully in all the 206 polling stations, including those in the hilly areas.

Barring the assault on the DMK candidate B Seeman at Rajendra Nagar polling booth by the ruling party workers, who were joined by voters, polling was by and large peaceful with no major incidents being reported from anywhere in the constituency.

An interesting feature in this election was that voters from Dalit enclaves, including women, turned up in large numbers to exercise their democratic rights.

Villagers from Pandara Oothu in the Varushanadu area, who stayed away from polling demanding a road through the reserved forest, were pacified by officials and leaders of political parties. Polling commenced in the afternoon there.

Despite the Election Commission placing restrictions, a common sight was men and women sporting their party affiliation on sarees akin to the colours of the party flags and on dhotis with similar borders and youth donning the caps with portraits of party leaders and symbols of contesting parties.

UNI