By Shakir Husain
HYDERABAD, April 23 (Bernama) -- Voting is under way across India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu on Thursday, with more than 57 million voters casting ballots in a high-stakes assembly election that will test Chief Minister M.K. Stalin’s bid for a second term amid a fiercely contested, multi-cornered race.
Polling is being held in all 234 constituencies, with the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) facing a strong challenge from the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and emerging contender Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK).
Long queues were seen outside polling stations early Thursday, with Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram, AIADMK chief E.K. Palaniswami and TVK leader Vijay among the early voters.
The DMK is allied with the Congress party, while the AIADMK has partnered with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has been seeking to expand its presence in southern states such as Tamil Nadu and Kerala through regional alliances.
India's Election Commission announced the schedule on March 15 to elect new assemblies in the states of Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, as well as the federally governed territory of Puducherry.
Tamil Nadu is voting in a single phase for all its assembly constituencies, while the eastern state of West Bengal is holding polling in 152 of its 294 constituencies in the first phase on Thursday, with the remaining seats to be contested on April 29.
Polling took place in Kerala, Assam and Puducherry on April 9.
Votes will be counted on May 4.
In West Bengal, a fierce contest is under way between the Trinamool Congress, led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), whose top leaders have campaigned extensively in the Bengali-speaking state, where election speeches have often been infused with communal and ethnic rhetoric.
The elections have also been overshadowed by controversy surrounding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls, during which millions of voters were removed.
The Election Commission says the revision is required to "maintain the integrity of the electoral roll" by accounting for voter migration and deaths.
Critics, however, say the exercise has omitted many valid voters from minority religious communities and weaker sections of society.
-- BERNAMA
