Madurai (Tamil Nadu) [India], April 23 (ANI): Congress MP Manickam Tagore on Thursday exercised his franchise at a polling station in Thiruparankundra constituency in the ongoing Tamil Nadu assembly polls.

Speaking with ANI, Tagore slammed the AIADMK-BJP alliance, accusing it of politicising the region and expressed hopes for its defeat. He also emphasised the need for an efficient MLA to develop the Thiruparankundra constituency.

'I voted in the Thiruparankundra constituency, where the RSS and BJP are trying to politicise right now. I hope that this time the BJP-AIADMK candidate gets rejected here. The development of Thiruparankundra has been halted for 5 years, so we need an MLA to coordinate with local bodies and to be the voice of this constituency,' Tagore said.

He further underscored the significance of the elections and commended the increasing voter turnout.

'Today's election is very important. The election is going to be very decisive. People are actively participating. In my booth, 36% voter turnout has been recorded, which is a good number. More people are coming to the polling stations,' he said.

Earlier, AIADMK candidate P Saravanan cast his vote this morning in the Madurai North Assembly constituency, expressing confidence that his party will secure a strong victory in the ongoing elections.

Saravanan voted at the Corporation Primary School in Narimedu. After casting his vote, he said the AIADMK, under its leadership, would perform strongly across Madurai district and the state.

Speaking to ANI, Saravanan said, 'AIADMK, people-friendly AIADMK led by our General Secretary will bag a massive win in the 10 constituencies in Madurai. We will win all 10 constituencies, and throughout Tamil Nadu, we will win more than 210 seats.'

Meanwhile, the voter turnout in Tamil Nadu it was recorded at 37.57 per cent at 11 am on Thursday, according to Election Commission of India.

In Tamil Nadu, the highest turnout of 42.45 per cent was in Tiruppur district, followed by Namakkal at 41.41 per cent, then Erode at 41.00 per cent. Chennai district registered a turnout of 35.47 per cent, Coimbatore at 38.62 per cent and Madurai at 36.22 per cent. The lowest voter turnout was recorded in the Nilgiris at 32.62 per cent.

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 will take place on May 4.

Several leaders, including Chief Minister MK Stalin, TVK chief Vijay, DMK minister KN Nehru, along with actors Rajinikanth and Dhurv Vikram, cast their votes this morning.

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. (ANI)