First-time voters display their forefingers, marked with indelible ink after casting their votes, at a polling booth in Chennai.

The Tamil Nadu Assembly election on Wednesday witnessed a record turnout of voters amid reports of “high spending” by several candidates, particularly of the ruling DMK-led front, to influence the rural electorate. The unusually long queues in the urban centres, especially in cities like Chennai, pointed to an increased awareness of fighting corruption among the educated youth and the middle class, which could help the Opposition AIADMK camp.

“The big seizure of money by the Election Commis-sion is ample evidence of the bribing of voters, but, then, you must understand there could have been much more that went undetected,” said Saidai S. Duraisamy, the AIADMK candidate taking on deputy chief minister M.K. Stalin at Kolathur in North Chennai.
Dismissing the charge, DMK spokesperson T.K.S. Elangovan, MP, said, “This large turnout only demonstrates public support for Kalaignar’s government for what our leader has done for all sections of society. Also, people are keen that these welfare measures must continue and that’s why they have turned up in such large numbers to vote for us.”
Addressing the media soon after polling closed Wednesday evening, state chief electoral officer Praveen Kumar said the polling percentage could be between 75 and 80 (total electorate 4.6 crore for 234 seats), and a final figure would be available on Thursday. The highest percentage was 76.59 in 1967, when the DMK uprooted the Congress.
In the neighbouring Union Territory of Puducherry, over 85 per cent of the total 8.10 lakh voters exercised their franchise in the election to the 30-member Assembly. While Congress chief minister V. Vaithilingam and Union minister V. Narayanasamy exuded confidence that their party would return to head the next government, their optimism was
challenged by former CM N. Rangasamy who insisted that his N.R. Congress, launched recently after quitting the Congress, would win in alliance with the AIADMK. In Kerala the voter turnout was 74.4 per cent.
The high turnout in Tamil Nadu, Mr Praveen Kumar said, could be attributed to “the initiatives of some political parties and also to the people themselves, and the awareness that we have created”. According to him, there is a general perception that a high turnout of voters indicates a close contest.
While the big flow of money, especially during the final phase of campaigning, is on almost everyone’s lips, all the political parties have acknowledged that the EC did well in containing money and muscle power in this election despite the huge stakes involved in the do-or-die battle between the main rivals, chief minister M. Karunanidhi and Ms Jayalalithaa of the AIADMK front. Election Commission raid teams have seized money and gifts worth over `45 crore in the last couple of weeks.
“The EC has done a great job, particularly in the preparation of voters’ lists, as I found almost no voter facing trouble locating his booth and exercising his or her franchise. But then, the rival camp spent huge money, like they did in a byelection,” said Mafoi K. Pandiarajan, DMDK candidate in Virudhunagar down south.
But the urban turnout appeared favourable to the AIADMK camp. “Already many of us had decided to vote for clean government. We were upset with the spectrum and other scams and now Anna Hazare’s fast was the trigger. Many who would not have left their air-conditioned homes stepped out in the hot sun to join the voting queues,” said V.S. Sriram, 35, a Chennai-based engineer-entrepreneur.