Chennai, April

Over 5.73 crore voters will decide the electoral fate of 4,023 candidates in the fray for the crucial Tamil Nadu Assembly election on 23 April.

Both the Dravidian majors - the DMK heading the SPA and the AIADMK leading the NDA in the state are pitted against each other in the high-stakes poll contest, with the DMK making a frantic bid to retain power while the AIADMK is making hectic attempts to return to power after being in the opposition for five years.

Chief Minister and DMK president MK Stalin has assured that he would transform Tamil Nadu into a model state in South Asia, while AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami appealed to the first-generation voters not to choose the wrong person.

As the campaign drew to a close, he sought a decisive mandate for the AIADMK to usher in development, peace and prosperity.

TVK founder Vijay, who is contesting from Perambur and Tiruchirappalli East constituencies in his electoral debut, took a swipe at Palaniswami, wondering if the former Chief Minister could contest and win from any constituency outside his home district of Salem.

As many as 4,023 candidates are in the fray from 234 assembly constituencies spread across the state. A total of 5,73,43,291 electors are expected to exercise their franchise.

The electrifying election campaign ended on 21 April. After voting on Thursday, the counting will take place on 4 May.

The EC has planned to ensure one hundred per cent voting in all the assembly constituencies and accordingly undertook voter awareness campaigns.

Ahead of the elections, Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer Archana Patnaik visited the control room to review ongoing activities for smooth polling day operations.

The work to shift the EVMs to the polling centres is in full swing. Over 1.40 lakh police personnel have been deployed for poll duty across Tamil Nadu, and arrangements have also been made to provide additional security forces at sensitive polling stations.

Outsiders who have campaigned in the districts have been told to return to their home constituencies.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India commenced the second phase of the International Election Visitors' Programme (IEVP), 2026, for the ongoing general elections to the Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu. The participants will visit the dispatch and distribution centres and other facilities, including the District Control Rooms and the Media Monitoring Centres. They will also witness the actual polling on the morning of 23 April, the ECI said.

According to an official, all presiding officers have been instructed to ensure the candidate buttons on EVMs should be clearly visible and that no candidate button can be covered with tape, glue or any other material.

No colour, ink, perfume or other chemical can be applied on the candidate button of the ballot unit to reveal the secrecy of votes. Such cases are likely to fall under tampering/interfering with the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM), which is an electoral office, he said.

The ECI warned that it will not hesitate to initiate criminal action against such culprits, including ordering repolling of the entire booth.