Sivaganga Lok Sabha constituency witnessed peaceful polling and ended with 71.05% voter turnout at 7 p.m. on Friday.
While officials said that there was gradual polling in Sivaganga, Tirupattur and other segments, issues such as name missing and non-functioning of EVMs led to delays at some places.
P Chidambaram cast his vote at Kandanur near Karaikudi and H. Raja of the BJP also cast his vote.
Many first time voters were excited to cast their votes. Latika Sri Ramesh, a resident here, said elated to vote for the first time. She is doing medicine in a Coimbatore college and had come home to cast her vote.
Boycott call
Villagers of Sithoorani and Kalloorani near Illayankudi in Sivaganga Lok Sabha constituency boycotted the poll. They condemned the official machinery for the poor upkeep of the tanks. As a result, the milch animals were unable to drink the water and the stench pervaded the whole village.
When Manamadurai DMK MLA Tamilarasi Ravikumar came to the spot and pacified the voters, some of the villagers picked up a wordy altercation with her. “What were the officials doing all these three years. How many petitions we had given to them. None had been considered,” they argued.
The villagers also said that the road had not been laid for several years. Very recently, the contractor had laid the gravel but did not finsihthe tar topping due to which riding two-wheelers had become back-breaking.
Despite senior police officers’ presence and assurance, the villagers did not heed to their promises. Out of 821 votes in the Panchayat Union School here, only 28 votes were cast till the close of the polling, officials said.
