The voters in Tamil Nadu are performing their democratic duty of casting vote as the polling of the crucial assembly polls is underway in the state to elect the new government. The polling has begun at 7 am on Tuesday across the state and it is an hour away from the deadline as the voters have been queuing up in the polling stations to cast their votes. Over 88,000 polling booths are installed and over 6.26 crore eligible voters are casting their votes with around 4000 candidates in the fray. 

Apart from the general public, several political leaders and celebrities have been casting their votes at their respective polling booths. Actor Ajith was the first to cast the vote in Tamil Nadu as he had registered his vote at around 6.55 am while actors Rajinikanth, Vijay, Vikram, Suriya, Karthi, Jiiva, Sibiraj, Sivakarthikeyan, Soori, Trisha, Nikki Galrani, and Andrea had cast their votes. 

Actor Vijay Sethupathi had arrived at a polling station along with his wife in Kodambakkam, Chennai and after casting his vote, he had addressed the reporters during which he said that he is beyond caste and religion and stated that people are important than their caste and religion. His fans and reporters had gathered around him and tossed questions about his stand in voting. 

The reporters had referred to his speech in 2019. According to reports, Vijay Sethupathi had addressed an event in 2019 during which he asked the people to ally with the parties which call them to address the issues in the village and state. He appealed to the people not to associate with the parties which campaign based on caste and religion and its problems. He further said, "The people who work based on caste and religion would stir us and we will get caught into that. Please understand before casting your votes".

Referring to his statement, a reporter had on Tuesday asked Vijay Sethupathi what's his stand on his statement now. Responding to the question, the actor said he is still on that stand and he will never change that. He further asserted that people are important for him than their castes and religion. The actor left the polling station after addressing the reporters. According to reports, the polling in Tamil Nadu will complete at 7 pm and the votes will be counted on May 2, during which the results will be announced. 

Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo said that Tamil Nadu has recorded 63.60% voter turnout till 5 pm. While Namakkal has recorded the highest voter turnout with 70.79% till 5 pm, Tirunelveli has recorded the least voter turnout with 50.05%. While the reports had earlier said that the last one hour, between 6 pm to 7 pm, is reserved for the Corona patients, Sahoo said that everyone can cast their vote till 7 pm and the Corona patients and electoral officers are mandated to wear PPE kits. 

Around 4000 candidates are contesting in the polls for 234 assembly seats. Tamil Nadu has been witnessing five fronts of the race to the reign - the ruling ADMK alliance, the opposition DMK alliance, Kamal Haasan- Sarathkumar - IJK, TTV Dhinakaran - Vijayakanth, and Seeman's Naam Tamilar Katchi. The votes will be counted on May 2, during which the results will be announced. Along with Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry are also going through the assembly polls. 

Our #MakkalSelvan #VijaySethupathi Anna Voted for A Bright Future 😍💥 pic.twitter.com/G7qEYh017p

— MakkalSelvan Team (@army_vjs) April 6, 2021