CHENNAI: Battlelines have been drawn for the upcoming polls to elect the members of the 17th Tamil Nadu Assembly. In all, 4,023 candidates are in the fray. The maximum number of candidates contesting is 79 in the Karur Assembly constituency, while the minimum is five in the Ambasamudram and Kinathukkadavu constituencies.
In the 2021 Assembly elections, there were 3,998 candidates, of whom 3,583 were men, 413 were women, and two were trans persons. In 2016, there were 3,728 candidates, of whom 3,406 were men, 320 were women and two were transgender candidates.
Meanwhile, the full bench of the ECI, comprising CEC Gyanesh Kumar and Commissioners S S Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, interacted with the Central Observers deployed across Tamil Nadu. In all, 326 observers took part in the meeting. The commission also emphasised the strict enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct and prompt action in case of any complaints of violations.
The observers have also been instructed to ensure proper training for Presiding Officers, with a focus on timely two-hourly and final voter turnout uploads to ECINET, the correct use of indelible ink, accurate completion and sharing of Form 17-C with polling agents, and deletion of mock poll data.