Puducherry records 58.86% polling till 3 pm; pink booths draw crowds

Polling picked up momentum in Puducherry as the union territory gets set to elect their lone representative to the Lok Sabha on Friday.

Official sources said that the polling percentage shot up to 58.86 at 3 p.m. Polling will end at 7 p.m.

The Union Territory has 10,23,699 voters spread over Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam regions.

A visit to some of the polling stations in the rural areas brought to the fore a mixed picture of voter turnout, which was mediocre in some places and high in others.

Kothandapani (89) along with his 86-year-old wife Krishnammal turned up at a booth in the Veerampattinam coastal village in Ariyankuppam Assembly constituency to cast their votes. Kothandapani is the grandfather of the AIADMK contestant G. Tamizhvendhan, family sources told media at the booth.

Voters turned up before commencement of the polls at most of the booths, official sources said. In one of the polling stations in Mudaliarpet assembly constituency, the VVPAT developed some snags and there was a delay of 45 minutes in the commencement of polling. Official sources said that as soon as the VVPAT developed technical snags, the engineers of BEL were called to rectify the defects.

Pink booths were the center of attraction. The green environment at a booth housed on the premises of the more-than-century-old VOC Government Boys school in the town added to the lustre of the arrangements. The elections department distributed gruel, nutritious cereals and millets and also buttermilk to the voters, sources said.

Volunteers were deployed to help aged and disabled voters to approach the booth without difficulties. Police also took care of the senior citizens and helped them get into the booth to cast their votes.

Puducherry recorded 28.10 percent polling till 11 a.m.

There are 26 aspirants in the fray in this seat. The BJP nominee and Home Minister of Puducherry A Namassivayam and the Congress president and sitting member of Lok Sabha VVaithilingam are locking horns in the poll battle.