Elections 2016 Tamil Nadu records 18.3 per cent voting till 9 am, Kerala 13.5 per cent till 9.30 am

Three southern states go to polling on Monday and we are set to witness direct contests between AIADMK and DMK in 234 assembly seats in Tamil Nadu, UDF and LDF in the 140-seat Kerala Assembly and Puducherry Chief Minister N Rangasamy of the All India NR Congress is facing tough anti-incumbency. The BJP has stitched up an alliance of regional parties in most states and will be looking to open their account for the first time in Kerala.

An estimated 5.82 crore voters will decide the fate of 3,776 candidates in 234 constituencies across Tamil Nadu. But voting in Thanjavur and Aravakurichi has been deferred following large-scale distribution of money among voters.

In Kerala, the UDF is counting on the support it enjoys among Christians, Muslims and other minorities but Muslim voters are also being wooed by the CPM, playing on the community’s apprehensions about the rise of the BJP which has been helped by its alliance with the Bharath Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS) of SNDP leader Vellapally Natesan.

Meanwhile, in Puducherry, Chief Minister Rangasamy has not been able to fulfill his old promise of getting statehood for the Union territory either despite efforts seen as appeasing the BJP. After the Lok Sabha elections, Rangasamy had replaced the portrait of Sonia Gandhi in his chamber with that of Narendra Modi. His party, the All India NR Congress, is contesting alone this time in all the 30 constituencies of the Puducherry Assembly.

Courtesy : indianexpress.com