Live Chennai South Election Results 2024: Tamilisai Soundararajan vs Tamizhachi Thangapandian

The counting of votes polled in the April 19 Lok Sabha elections to 39 constituencies in Tamil Nadu began at 8 AM across the state on Tuesday. Counting began amid a heavy police security in all of the 39 counting centres. Postal ballots were taken up first.

As many as 950 candidates are in the fray in the 39 Lok Sabha segments in the state, which had a voter turnout of 69.72 per cent in the April 19 single-phase election in Tamil Nadu.

Former Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan is taking on incumbent DMK MP Tamizhachi Thangapandian and AIADMK's D Jayavardhan in the Chennai South Lok Sabha constituency.

This constituency has historically been a stronghold for the DMK, which has won it five times, and the AIADMK, which secured victory twice. However, the BJP is aiming for a breakthrough win in the upcoming elections. The constituency comprises six assembly segments: Virugampakkam, Saidapet, Thiyagarayanagar, Mylapore, Velachery, and Shozhinganallur.

In the 2019 elections, Thamizhachi Thangapandian emerged victorious with a significant margin of 2,62,223 votes, defeating Jayavardhan. Thangapandian secured 564,872 votes, while Jayavardhan garnered 3,02,649 votes. Additionally, Kamal Haasan's MNM candidate received 1,35,465 votes. It's worth noting that MNM is now part of the INDIA alliance.

In 2014, Jayavardhan secured a decisive victory over his closest rival, TKS Elangovan of the DMK, by over 1.36 lakh votes.

Key issues dominating the constituency include waterlogging during rains, delays in metro rail and MRTS work, and a controversial proposal for an eco park in the Pallikaranai marshland.

Chennai South, the fourth largest constituency in the state, boasts a total of 20,07,816 voters, including 9,93,590 men, 10,13,772 women, and 454 transgender individuals, according to data from the Election Commission.

The BJP's most notable performance in the constituency dates back to 1998 when Jana Krishnamurthy narrowly missed victory while contesting in alliance with the AIADMK.

South Chennai witnessed a drop in voter turnout from 56.92% in 2019 to 54.27% in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.