1 LAKH VOTERS' NAMES 'MISSING' IN COIMBATORE, ANNAMALAI CALLS FOR RE-ELECTION

K Annamalai, the Tamil Nadu BJP Chief, has raised concerns over the absence of nearly 1 lakh voters' names from the electoral roll in Coimbatore. He has questioned the Election Commission's readiness for the polls in the constituency and called for re-election in booths where significant voter names are missing.

"The sad part about Coimbatore election is names of around 1 lakh voters are missing from voters list. We don't know the logic behind these deletions. Approximately 20-25 votes have been deleted from all polling booths for no apparent reason," Annamalai said, addressing media reporters.

"In one particular booth alone, 830 names are missing. It looks like mass scale planned deletion. What is the Election Commission doing? What happened to all the pre-poll preparedness? Many have come from foreign countries like Malaysia and Muscat. They couldn't cast votes. We are asking for re election in polling booths where names of voters are missing in large numbers," Annamalai said.

Polling concluded across all 39 constituencies in Tamil Nadu by 8 pm, with voter turnout reaching 72.09%, as per Election Commission data.

Chennai Central witnessed the lowest participation in the ongoing elections, with just 41.47% turnout by 3 pm. The overall state turnout at the same time stood at 51.41%. Notably, Dharmapuri recorded the highest turnout at 57.86%, followed by Namakkal at 57.67% and Kallakurichi at 57.34%.

The electoral process, spanning seven phases, commenced at 7 am across 102 parliamentary constituencies in 21 states and Union Territories, continuing until 7 pm.

In Tamil Nadu, the parliamentary elections witnessed fierce competition between the ruling DMK, opposition AIADMK, and BJP.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, led by current Chief Minister M K Stalin, the DMK clinched a sweeping victory, securing 38 out of 39 seats.

2024-04-19T14:43:34Z dg43tfdfdgfd