Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], April 23 (ANI): Actors Prabhu and Vikram Prabhu urged citizens to exercise their democratic right as voting for the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly elections got underway on Thursday.

Speaking about the importance of voting, Prabhu told ANI, 'Putting a vote is every Indian citizen's right. So, please don't miss voting. Whoever you want to vote for, please do come and vote. That is the service you are doing for the country and for the state. God bless all, God bless Tamil Nadu, God bless India. Please do come and vote.'

Meanwhile, Vikram Prabhu emphasised that voting is a responsibility and encouraged people to understand issues and participate meaningfully in the electoral process.

'I think it is our responsibility to come and vote. With so much speech and talk about the elections this time around, I'm just happy that a new, very young group of people have started talking about politics because it's a very important thing. I hope that it brings about more thought processes in youngsters about what kind of a country that we need to have and everything. It just doesn't start in the city. It has to blow up into thinking about a country also. So, if we practise our right to vote, then we are there to question what is right, what is wrong. So, I guess it starts here. It's a good festival to be in,' shared Vikram.

Actor Sivakarthikeyan, a voter in the Maduravoyal Assembly constituency, arrived at a private school in Valasaravakkam, Chennai, along with his wife to cast his vote.

Speaking to reporters after exercising his franchise, Sivakarthikeyan said the election was largely influenced by social media and stressed the importance of informed voting.

'..... All voters should know the candidates well before voting. I have come to vote knowing the candidates well,' he said.

He further added a strong message to voters, saying, 'You should never sell your vote for money. And once you sell it, you can't question it.'

Polling for the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections began today amid tight security. At 9 am, Tamil Nadu recorded 17.69 per cent voter turnout.Tiruppur district recorded the highest turnout with 20.38 per cent voting, while Chennai district registered a turnout of 16.51 per cent, and Erode recorded 19.55 per cent turnout.

Vijay cast his vote at the Neelankarai polling booth. Actor-turned-politician Vijay is contesting from the Perambur and Tiruchirappalli East constituencies.

In Perambur, Vijay is pitted against DMK heavyweight RD Shekar, who recorded a landslide victory in the last elections by a margin of 54,976 votes against AIADMK's NR Dhanapalan.

In Tiruchirappalli East, he is contesting against sitting DMK MLA Inigo Irudayaraj S, who won with a huge margin of 53,797 votes in the 2021 elections.The counting of votes will take place on May 4. (ANI)