More than 30 percent of the 9.41 lakh voters cast their franchise in Puducherry till 11.30 am on Monday. Voters turned up in large numbers at the booths despite rains in urban and rural areas.
Police were deployed in good strength in addition to personnel from Central Armed forces.
Tension prevailed in a booth in Sorapet village in Tirubhuvanai reserved constituency when a group of villagers registered strong protest against the alleged assault of a local youth by a police officer. They alleged that the officer dragged out the youth from his house for possessing a bunch of voters slips.
However, police sources denied the allegation and said that the police were only asking the volunteers of political parties to remain beyond the 100 metre limit. There was no disruption of polling in the booth, election commission officials said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the people in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry to “vote in record numbers” in the assembly elections.
Polling commenced at 7 am to elect 30 members to the territorial assembly. The 9.41 lakh voters, of whom 4.94 lakh are women, are spread over the 30 segments in Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam, and will decide the electoral and political prospects of 344 contestants, including 96 independents.
Among the important candidates are Chief Minister N Rangasamy, Leader of the Opposition and former Chief Minister V Vaithilingam (Cong), PCC leader A Namassivayam, and Speaker of Puducherry Assembly V Sabapathy.
Prior to the election day, Puducherry Pradesh Congress Committee President A Namassivayam and five other party workers were booked on charges of assault on Sunday. Damodaran, the son-in-law of AIADMK Rajya Sabha MP N Gokulakrishnan, also alleged that his industrial unit was ransacked and damaged.
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