Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], April 23 (ANI): Actor Gautham Ram Karthik cast his vote at a polling booth at Stella Maris College in Chennai on Thursday as voting for the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.

The actor was seen arriving at the polling station to exercise his franchise.

Polling is underway across Tamil Nadu, with voters turning out to participate in the democratic process.

Actor S Ajith Kumar also cast his vote at a polling station in Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai, as several prominent personalities joined voters across the state in the electoral process.Polling for the Assembly elections began in Tamil Nadu amid tight security on Thursday.

The voting will conclude at 6:00 pm today.The counting of votes is scheduled for May 4.Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Archana Patnaik said that the state's electorate comprises over 5.73 crore voters, featuring 2,93,04,905 female voters, 2,80,30,658 male voters, and 7,728 third-gender voters.

The poll body is also catering to 14,59,039 first-time voters and 68,501 service voters, with 4,18,541 postal votes already received. Furthermore, 62 counting centres have already been established to ensure a smooth process after the high-stakes voting concludes.The main contest is expected between the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance, which includes the Congress, DMDK and VCK, and the National Democratic Alliance led by AIADMK with BJP and PMK as allies.

With the DMK banking on its Dravidian 2.0 model, the AIADMK-led NDA is fighting for a comeback. Actor-turned-politician Vijay is also set to make his electoral debut with his party Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), which could turn the contest into a three-way fight. (ANI)