Campaign for ULB election comes to an end

After the frenetic campaign over the last few days, during which leaders traded barbs and candidates raced against each other, the high-voltage fight to win the urban local body election in Tamil Nadu came to an end on Thursday evening. The civic bodies would go to polls on Saturday, results of which would be declared on February 22.

Drumbeats and slogans rent the air when candidates undertook the last-minute round in pockets of Chennai, while the political mood was more colourful in southern and western parts of the State.

Those belonging to smaller parties and independents, too, left no stone unturned to reach out to the voters on the final day of the campaign, promising corruption-free politics if voted to power.

Tamil Nadu State Election Commission sources said the district election offices would start moving electronic voting machines and polling materials to polling stations from Friday morning. All Tasmac liquor outlets will remain closed for the next three days.

DMK president and Chief Minister MK Stalin, AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam and Opposition Leader Edappadi K Palaniswami appealed sought votes for their parties and allies, campaigning for continuation of ‘good administration’ and punishment for ‘reneging on promises’, respectively.