Chennai: Voting began on Monday in Tamil Nadu’s Vellore Lok Sabha constituency after an extensive election campaign by ruling AIADMK, opposition DMK and Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK).
AIADMK candidate AC Shanmugam, DMK’s Kathir Anand and NTK’s Deepa Lakshmi are the prominent candidates in the fray.
Satyabrata Sahoo, the chief electoral officer in Tamil Nadu said that all the preliminary work has been done to ensure safe and secure elections.
Sahoo said, “In Vellore LS seat 1,553 booths are going for polls on Monday. About 7,500 booth level EC officers will conduct the elections. 3,752 voting machines will be used for polling votes.”
The Vellore seat comprises six Assembly segments -- Vellore, Anaikattu, Kilvaithinankuppam, Gudiyattam, Vaniyambadi and Ambur.
TTV Dhinakaran’s Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhaga and Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam have not fielded candidates.
The election to the seat, originally scheduled for April 18, was postponed after Rs 10 crore cash was seized from DMK leaders in Vellore district. Three months later, it became the central point of the AIADMK's campaign targeting the DMK.
