Tamil Nadu Urban Local Body Election 2022 Live News Updates

Rice bags worth Rs 1000 per vote were allegedly distributed to 87 voters in Pudukkottai district ward number 1. Voters were given a bill with paid seal and were asked to collect rice bags from a shop belonging to Mohammad Haneefa. 

Election flying squad raided the shop and seized rice bags, bills, and cash. The owner of the shop denied saying which party paid the bill and an inquiry going on.

Actor and Makkal Needhi Maiam party leader Kamal Haasan asked all the media cameramen to leave the polling booth as per rules. He told them that he will vote only if media persons go out of the booth. He cast his vote in the Alwarpet area of Chennai

Tamil Nadu urban local body elections: 21.69% voter turnout till 11 am. 

Data from the state election commission reveals that Chennai and Chengalpattu have the lowest voting percentage till 11am. In Chennai, only 17.88 per cent votes had been cast while 10.65 polling was reported in Chengalpattu

According to data released by the state election commissioner Palani Kumar, 8.21 percent of votes were cast in the first couple of hours of the elections for the Tamil Nadu urban and local bodies.

Chennai: 3.9% votes polled till 9am

Tambaram: 3.3% votes polled till 9am

Coimbatore: 6.79% votes polled till 9am

Virudhunagar 12.34% polling till 9am

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin's son and Chepauk MLA Udhayanidhi landed in controversy when he wore a shirt with the party symbol while casting his vote. This is in violation of the election code of conduct. Rules say that people with party symbols are not allowed inside 100 meters of the polling booth.

A similar incident was reported in Sivakasi when women wearing saree with DMK symbols were not allowed to vote in the 26th ward earlier this morning.

Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan: "Today I cast my vote at Chennai for Tamil Nadu local body election. Appeal everyone to exercise their right and participate in this festival of democracy."

Today I cast my vote at #Chennai for Tamil Nadu local body election.
Appeal everyone to exercise their RIGHT & participate in this festival of democracy.

எந்த மாநிலத்தில் பொறுப்பில் இருந்தாலும்....
சொந்த மாநிலத்திற்கு வந்து வாக்களிப்பது எனது பொறுப்பு...#localbodyelections pic.twitter.com/WHuF5KlmAs

— Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan (@DrTamilisaiGuv) February 19, 2022

Meanwhile, in Madurai, Melur municipality ward 8 polling booth, BJP booth agent evicted from premises by police as he asked a women to remove Hijab

Here is a viral video of actor Vijay apologizing to the voters about the inconvenience caused by the crowd and media cameramen when he came to vote.

Vijay was waiting in line for his turn to cast his vote. However, the polling officials called him inside to vote out of turn as the crowd was becoming difficult to control.

After casting his vote, the actor was seen folding his hands and apologizing to the other voters.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and his wife Durga Stalin cast their vote at a polling booth in SIET College in Teynampet, Chennai. 

Brisk polling is underway across Tamil Nadu. People were seen queueing up outside polling booths since early morning. 

If you want to know which booth you need to visit to cast your vote, click on THIS link.

People cast their votes for the #TamilNadu Urban Local Body Elections today. Visuals from a polling booth in Madurai. pic.twitter.com/SuovzKBYUP

— ANI (@ANI) February 19, 2022

The Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health has ordered all the companies to give paid leave to all employees to vote in the Tamil Nadu urban rural local body polls.

Senthil Kumar, Additional Director of the department, sent a circular to all districts.

A copy of the letter was accessed by Asianet News

Tamil superstars were among the early voters in the Tamil Nadu urban local body elections.

Superstar Rajinikanth is the latest to cast his vote at a polling booth at the Stella Mary's College in Chennai. 

Earlier, Actor Vijay was the first person to visit the Nilangarai polling station in the early hours of the morning to cast his vote in the urban local body elections.

Electronic Voting Machine glitches reported in some wards

Voting was delayed by half an hour in Cuddalore Corporation 5th Ward due to a malfunction of the electronic voting machine.

In some wards of Tirunelveli and Kanniyakumari too, voting has not started yet due to a fault in EVM machines

Keep at least one of these documents in your hand before you step out of your home to vote. These include: 

* Voter ID card
* Aadhaar card
* Driving license
* PAN card
* Passport 
* Pension document with photo
* Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme card
* Bank or post office account card with a photo
* Medical insurance smart card

Here's what is at stake today 

Corporation Ward Member Posts: 1374
Un-opposed candidates: 4
Total Posts for Election: 1370
Total candidates: 11,196

Municipality Ward Member Posts: 3843
Un-opposed candidates: 18
Total Posts for Election: 3825
Total candidates: 17,922

Town Panchayat Ward Member Posts: 7609
Un-opposed candidates: 196
Total Posts for Election: 7412    
Total candidates: 28,660

In total, voting is underway for 12,607 posts with 57,778 candidates

Polling updates from Chennai

Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan cast her vote at a polling booth in Saligramam, Chennai.

State Election Commissioner V Palani Kumar cast his vote at the polling booth at Padmasheshadri School, Valluvar Kottam, Chennai

Chennai Municipal Commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi voted with his family in Virugambakkam

Actor Vijay, whose Vijay Makkal Iyakkam is contesting in this election, cast his vote in Chennai's Neelankarai polling booth. In last year's rural local body elections, 129 members of his Vijay Makkal Iyakkam won seats.

Even though the superstar did not announce his political entry, he has allowed his fan club members to contest with the club flag and his pictures in the campaign.

If you are undecided about who to vote for in the 2022 Tamil Nadu urban local body elections, you can always read up about the candidates from various parties before you head out to vote.

Here's how you do it

Voting for the Tamil Nadu urban local body elections got underway at 7 am and will go on till 6 pm

Here's an interesting bit of detail

Total eligible voters in the 2021 Tamil Nadu assembly election were 6,29,43,512

Total eligible voters in the 2022 Tamil Nadu urban local body election are 2,79,56,754

In other words, 40% of Tamil Nadu voters are voting today

Here are some of the arrangements that the state election commission has made for the Tamil Nadu local urban body election:

* 4 polling officers have been appointed for each polling station. 

* All polling booths in this election are equipped with CCTV cameras. 

* Web cameras have been installed in tense polling stations and surveillance is arranged directly from the control room. 

* Surveillance cameras are installed at 268 counting centers.

* The last one hour -- 5 pm to 6 pm -- is reserved for those with symptoms of Coronavirus and infected persons.

Let's take a look at some of the promises made by political parties ahead of the polling.

DMK

* Slashing of milk prices by Rs 3 per litre

* Fare-free travel for women in town buses 

* Rs 4,000 pandemic relief for people. 

* Rs 1,000 assistance per month to women

AIADMK

* Rs 1,000 per month for women family heads

* Rs 100 subsidy for cooking gas cylinders 

* Reduction in petrol prices across the state

Good morning and welcome to the live coverage of the Tamil Nadu urban local body elections 2022. 

The Tamil Nadu State Election Commission has made elaborate preparations to ensure smooth voting today on 21 municipal corporations, 138 municipalities and 489 town panchayats. It has deployed over 80,000 police personnel and flying squads to prevent any untoward incident from happening anywhere in the state. 

The counting of votes would be taken up on February 22.