CHENNAI: As the State went into the much-anticipated polls on Monday at the end of a campaign fraught with a lot of bad blood, the only real trouble that the election managers had to face was the inclement weather that affected the flow of voters to the booth and led to power failure at several places.
At the end of the 11-hour polling session, the voting percentage stood at 73.76 per cent, less than the 78 per cent recorded last time, senior officials told Express, blaming the apathetic urban voters who pulled down the overall figure.
Poring over the figures that came in from the districts, Chief Electoral Officer Rajesh Lakhoni, who had led a spirited campaign to increase the polling percentage, noted that the worst of all was Chennai, the capital city where the voting percentage was a poor 60 per cent.
After heavy rain hampered polling in the morning, parties requested the Chief Electoral Officer to extend the voting hours. Lakhoni recommended extending it by an hour in eight rain-hit districts, but the Election Commission turned it down, noting that the showers had stopped before long.