Western Tamil Nadu, comprising The Nilgiris, Coimbatore, Pollachi, Tiruppur, Erode, Namakkal, Salem, Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri Lok Sabha constituencies recorded brisk polling as of noon on Friday, April 19, 2024. As the mercury level began soaring, the percentage is likely to witness a slump but is expected pick up again expected after 4 p.m.
Right from 6.30 a.m. voters started arrived at polling stations, and in some, serpentine queues were witnessed.
Tamil Nadu Lok Sabha elections, Phase 1 LIVE Updates | 24.37% votes polled till 11 a.m.
Early in the day, some members of the public staged a protest in front of the Singanallur bus stand in Coimbatore, demanding bus services to the southern districts, in order to travel and cast their votes at their hometowns. They said there were no TNSTC buses available. “We have been waiting for three hours for a bus to Madurai. Private operators are charging a minimum Rs. 500,” said one commuter, Kanmani.
A TNSTC official said the drivers and conductors were given one hour to cast their votes and come. Buses would soon be operational, the official said
Erode Parliamentary constituency saw 25.37% votes polled till 11 a.m. Mock poll began at 5.30 a.m. in all the booths in the presence of booth agents and a total of 18 ballot units, 17 control units and 25 VVPATs that were found to be faulty were replaced. Officials said at 11 a.m., one ballot unit, two control units and seven VVPATs that developed snags were replaced with alternative machines and polling continued.
AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami polled his vote in Salem and former Minister S.P. Velumani polled his vote in Coimbatore.
The Krishnagiri Lok Sabha seat witnessed 23.97 per cent of votes being polled as of 11 a.m. Dharmapuri had 29.24 per cent; while Coimbatore had 23.13 per cent. Pollachi polled only 21.61 per cent votes; the Nilgiris witnessed 21.69 per cent votes being polled and Tiruppur had 22 per cent.
Two deaths reported in Salem
Two senior citizens N. Palaniswamy (65) and P. Chinnaponnu (77) died at polling stations in Salem
N. Palanisamy, a resident of Pandian Street in Old Suramangalam, was a retired conservancy worker of the Salem Corporation. On Friday, around 10.30 a.m., he and his wife Kamala arrived to cast their vote at the Corporation Middle School in Suramangalam. While he was waiting in the queue, he fainted. He was immediately taken to the Urban Primary Health Centre in the locality but he died on the way, sources said.
R. Chinnaponnu, a resident of Kondaiyampalli near Sentharapatti in Salem district also came to vote around 9.30 a.m., along with her son Govindaraj and daughter-in-law Chitra, at the polling booth at the Panchayat Union Primary School. When she went in to cast her vote, she fainted and subsequently died, officials said.
