PUDUCHERRY: The Thattanchavady Assembly constituency recorded a voter turnout of 80.81 per cent in the by-election held on Tuesday, with polling remaining largely peaceful despite a few stray incidents.
The turnout was 6.39 percentage points lower than the 87.2 per cent recorded in the constituency during the 2026 Assembly elections.
The constituency has 26,921 voters, including 12,575 men, 14,341 women and five third-gender voters. Polling began on a brisk note, with turnout touching 19.20 per cent by 9 am, 39.16 per cent by 11 am, 56.27 per cent by 1 pm, 68.91 per cent by 3 pm and 78.83 per cent by 5 pm.
A total of 11 candidates, including six nominees of political parties and five independents, were in the fray. The main contest was among A Ashok Anand of the NR Congress, K Sethu Selvam of the DMK, E Vinayagam of the Congress and A M Saleem of the CPI.
Polling was held at 31 polling stations, including pink polling station at St Joseph of Cluny Higher Secondary School. District Election Officer A Kulothungan inspected the polling arrangements there.
Chief Minister N Rangasamy, who had contested and won from both Mangalam and Thattanchavady in the Assembly elections, resigned the Thattanchavady seat, necessitating the by-election.
The election was peaceful. However, a few incidents were reported during polling. Campaign leaflets supporting Congress candidate E Vinayagam were found scattered around the Chekizhar Government High School polling station in Subbiah Nagar. Gorimedu police registered a case and are investigating.
At VVP Nagar Arch, Vinayagam argued with police personnel, alleging that voters arriving on two-wheelers were being stopped from proceeding to the polling station in a narrow lane. Police and the Central armed police force (CAPF) intervened and brought the situation under control.
A rumour about a bomb explosion at the Government Primary School polling station in Gundupalayam also caused brief concern. Police searched the premises and strengthened security, but no such incident was reported.
Kulothungan said polling did not continue beyond 6 pm at any of the 31 polling stations and that no voter who had arrived before the deadline was denied an opportunity to vote. Hence, no tokens were issued after 6 pm.
In only one booth, VVPAT malfunctioned during the poll. It was promptly replaced with a functional unit, said Arjun Ramakrishnan, Returning Officer.
Ashok Anand cast his vote at Cluny School, while Sethu Selvam exercised his franchise at the Government Library polling station in Pakkamudayanpet. E Vinayagam of the Congress and AM Saleem of the CPI are not voters in the constituency
After polling, the EVMs and VVPAT machines from all 31 polling stations were transported to the Mothilal Nehru Government Polytechnic College in Lawspet and secured in the strong room.
Senior Superintendent of Police R Kalaivanan said the strong room would be protected by a three-tier security arrangement. Around 400 paramilitary personnel, 250 local police personnel and 50 Home Guards were deployed for election security.
