Tamil Nadu has 8,050 vulnerable, 181 critical polling stations: State chief electoral officer

Chennai: Tamil Nadu, which will go to polls for all 39 seats in the first phase of the general elections on April 19, has a total of 8,050 vulnerable polling stations and 181 critical polling station, officials said.
State Chief Electoral Officer Sathyabrata Sahoo said that they have permitted 807 star campaigners in the state.
Sahoo said that the commission has issued 79 Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC) certificates so far in the state for the Lok Sabha polls.
He further informed that the mock poll will start by 6 am in the state and elections will commence by 7 am.
All 39 seats of Tamil Nadu will poll in the first phase of the general elections on April 19 and the counting of votes, along with those from other phases, has been scheduled for June 4.
In 2019, the DMK swept the Lok Sabha polls in the state, winning 23 Lok Sabha seats and bagging the lion's share of the total votes polled, at 33.2 per cent. Its ruling ally, Congress, bagged 8 seats, mining 12.9 per cent of the total votes polled, while the CPI won two seats. CPI (M) and IUML won one seat each while the remaining two seats went to Independents.
The elections to 543 Lok Sabha seats in the country will be held in seven phases, starting April 19. Nearly 97 crore voters are eligible to get their fingers inked this time.