RK Nagar bypoll: Voting ends, 73.45 % turn out recorded

Voting for by-election to high-stakes RK Nagar assembly constituency in Tamil Nadu began at 8 am on Thursday after the Delhi high court declined to pass any order directing the Election Commission to put on hold the election.

Earlier on Wednesday, a video said to be of late Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa was released by a leader of the TTV Dinakaran camp, a day before a by-election to the city's RK Nagar assembly constituency that fell vacant after the AIADMK leader's death last December.

Campaigning for the high-stakes ended on Tuesday and the outcome of the hustings is likely to be
seen as a report card of the 17-month old AIADMK government.

Counting of votes to take place on December 24.

Here are the LIVE updates:

6:00 pm: Voting ends

3:41 pm: According to the Election Commission, voter turnout was recorded at 57.16% till 3pm during the RK Nagar Assembly bypoll.

3:11 pm: When the Election Commission announced the RK Nagar bypoll in April, things came to a head. The bypoll was being seen as a referendum for a Jayalalithaa-less AIADMK government and winning it became a question of prestige and legacy. Both warring factions of the party laid claim to AIADMK's name and its two leaves electoral symbol. However, the EC refused both. The bypoll then turned into a three-way contest between the two factions and the DMK.

01:24 pm: Indications of massive voter turnout as voting percentage at the RK Nagar constituency stands at 41.6% till 1 pm.

8.22 am: Chennai City Police Commissioner AK Viswanathan says: "We will ensure free and fair elections, today. Have deployed additional forces."

8.21 am: DMK candidate N Marudhu Ganesh casts his vote at a polling booth in Chennai. "Whether it is Rs 6000 or Rs 60,000, we are going to win; voters of RK Nagar will teach a lesson to AIADMK this time."

08:20 am: BJP candidate Karu Nagarajan has arrived at a polling booth in Chennai to cast his vote in the RK Nagar bypoll. Voter lines are slowly getting longer outside polling booths in Jayalalithaa's erstwhile constituency.

08:10 am: Polling begins for RK Nagar bypoll in Chennai Tamil Nadu

08: 00 am: Voting for RK Nagar by-poll to begin at 8 AM

OneIndia News