Tamil Nadu urban civic election: CM Stalin casts his vote, exudes confidence over victory

Tamil Nadu chief minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) President MK Stalin on Saturday cast his vote for the ongoing urban local body polls in the state. The Tamil Nadu CM was seen along with his wife Durga Stalin at a polling booth at SIET college in Teynampet, Chennai. 

While voting for the urban civic elections began at 7 AM on Saturday, it holds significance as the polls are being held after a huge gap of 10 years thus bringing ground for a fierce battle between the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK).

CM speaks to media over winning 21 corporations across the state

During this while, CM also spoke to the media and exuded confidence over winning all the 21 corporations across the state. 

"We are giving good governance not only to those who vote for us but to all. As per our information, our alliance will win all the 21 corporations in the state", he said. Notably, the parties associated in the polls include ruling the DMK followed by the oppositions All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM).

Earlier in the day, the Chief Minister was seen standing in the queue along with his wife on Saturday to cast their votes at a polling booth. Also, Tamil superstars and several political leaders were among the early voters including actors Rajinikanth and Vijay followed by DMK MLA Udhayanidhi Stalin, Tamil Nadu Water Resources Minister Durai Murugan, Tamil Nadu minister for School Education Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi, and many others.

Tamil Nadu Urban Local Body Elections being held after 10 years

While the the urban local body elections are underway, people have also lined up in queues across the polling booths in Tamil Nadu. 

In view of the polls, police security has also been heightened while around 1 lakh police personnel have been deployed with additional arrangements for ensuring peaceful and fair elections. Apart from that, quick response teams and civil police teams have been positioned at locations identified as being "critical or vulnerable" followed by vigilance for any activities in the state. 

The urban local body polls being held in Tamil Nadu are taking place after a gap of 10 years and will decide the fate of 12,607 posts of ward members across 648 urban local bodies including the municipal corporations, municipalities, and town panchayats across the state. As a part of these, 21 cities in the state including Chennai, 138 municipalities, and 490 town panchayats will elect more than 12,000 members through the polls. 

The polls were earlier announced by the Tamil Nadu State Election Commission for a total of 12,838 ward member posts across 649 urban civic bodies, however, polls for all the 12 wards in Tamil Nadu's Kadambur town panchayat in Thoothukudi district were canceled in view of violations. Furthermore, in another town panchayat ward in the Sivaganga district, no nominations were filed.