Tamil Nadu BJP chief and party candidate from Coimbatore seat K Annamalai said the time of Dravidian politics is over and also accused the ruling DMK and AIADMK of spending Rs 1,000 crore in Coimbatore to influence voters. Annamalai made the statement after casting his vote at Uthupatti polling booth in Karur village on Friday.

He expressed his confidence of a historic result for the NDA on June 4, the IPS officer-turned-politician said the BJP will see a rise in its vote share in Tamil Nadu. Annamalai further added people of Tamil Nadu are with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.  

He said in the state of Karnataka the party is expecting a clean sweep this time. The State BJP chief said the BJP will be the number 1 party in Telangana. He said he was confident that Tamil Nadu will deliver a very big resounding result this time. He said there will be a rise in BJP’s vote share in the state and time of Dravidian politics is over.

In Coimbatore, K Annamalai is contesting the election from Coimbatore and is facing DMK’s Ganapathy P Rajkumar and AIADMK’s Singai Ramachandran. All 39 seats in Tamil Nadu will go for voting in the first phase. K Annamalai spoke to the media after casting his vote and accused the ruling DMK and AIADMK of spending more than Rs 1,000 crore in Coimbatore to influence the voters.

He said if the ruling DMK and AIADMK can bring 1 voter in front of the media to say that BJP is trying to influence them, then he will leave politics the same day because he is running in this election as a matter of principle. The elections to the state of Tamil Nadu will be closely monitored as the state has been at the centre of the BJP’s southern push in order to realise Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 400 paar goal.

As soon as the first phase of the Lok Sabha elecrtions for three of West Bengal’s 42 seats began at 7 a.m. on Friday, reports of clashes between the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Bhartiye Janta Party (BJP) began to circulate.

An argument between workers and supporters of the two bitter rivals at Chandmari, close to CoochBehar town, resulted in at least one injury. Reports of stone stone pelting also cirrculated.

Anant Barman, a local TMC functionary, was reportedly injured in a crude bombing at Bhetaguri and was admitted to the hospital. the state minister Udayan Gandhi, raced to visit Barman in the hospital.

All three seat, Cooch Behar, Alipurduar, and Jalpaiguri, where the first phase of voting is taking place today, were won by the BJP in 2019. 15.2% of voters in CoochBehar, 15.91% in Alipurduar, and 14.13% in Jalpaiguri turned up till 9:00 am for voting.

The BJP and TMC both charged that the other was intimidating voters, keeping them from going to the polls, and attacking poll workers. It is stated that temporary electoral offices were set on fire in places like Toofanganj in Cooch Behar and Dabgram-Fulbari in Jalpaiguri.

The majority of calls regarding voter intimidation and poll violence, according to a representative of the West Bengal governor’s office, came from Cooch Behar.

Five people were killed in April 2021 during Cooch Behar assembly elections, one of them was a first-time voter. There have also been reports of clashes between state minister Udayan Guha and union minister Nisith Pramajick’s supporters.

Meanwhile, for complaints regarding electoral violence, the BJP has established a helpline at its office in Kolkata. TMC officials reported that Abhishek Banerjee, the party’s national general secretary, was keeping an eye on the voting process from Kolkata.

Superstar Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan cast their votes at their respective polling booths in Chennai on Friday. Actor Dhanush cast his vote at the St Francis Xavier School, TTK Road. Vijay Sethupathi exercised his duty at the Chennai High School in Kilpauk.

Voting for the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 started on Friday. The people of Tamil Nadu will go for voting in the first phase of the elections today. Rajinikanth was accompanied by his publicist and his team at the polling both. He greeted everyone and flashed his inked finger for the media.

A video shows superstar Rajinikanth arriving at his booth and exercising his duty is circulating on social media. He was mobbed by fans while exiting the polling booth. Actor Kamal Haasan, and Makkal Needhi Maiam president, arrived at his election booth to cast his vote. Actor Dhanush cast his vote at the St Francis Xavier School in TTK Road at around 8 am. Vijay Sethupathi cast his vote at the Chennai High School in Kilpauk.

According to reports Ajith Kumar was one of the first actors to cast his vote in Chennai. Social media user Ramesh Bala took to X and shared a video of the actor at the polling station. The actor was seen voting in Thiruvanmiyur early on Friday. Ajith, Rajinikanth and Sivakarthikeyan spoke to the press after voting and urged people to come out and exercise their duty.

Superstar Rajinikanth will be seen next in director TJ Gnanavel’s Vettaiyan. The film features an ensemble cast including Rana Daggubati, Fahadh Faasil, Amitabh Bachchan, Manju Warrier, and Dushara Vijayan, Ritika Singh in pivotal roles. Upcoming projects of Dhanush include Raayan, Kubera and Nilavukku En Mel Ennadi Kobam. Ajith was last seen in the 2023 film Thunivu. He is currently shooting for Vidaa Muyarchi, which is helmed by Magizh Thirumeni and also stars Trisha, Arjun Sarja, Regina Cassandra and Arav in important roles.