Technical glitches mar urban local body polls as Madurai records 57.09 % voter turnout 

The hijab issue where a Bharatiya Janata Party booth agent was arrested for creating a ruckus by objecting to Muslim women voters wearing hijab, technical glitches in some polling booths and authorities failing to collect the signatures of voters at a polling booth in Tirumangalam municipality marred the urban local bodies election in Madurai district.

At the end of the polls in Madurai district, votes polled in Madurai Corporation was 53.99 %, votes polled in the town panchayat areas was 79.42 % and in the municipalities 71.33 % votes was polled. The total vote percentage recorded in Madurai district was 57.09 %. The polls in the district commenced on a dull note.

In Madurai city at the St. Britto school, the polling was stopped for about an hour after it was said that a CCTV camera was not functioning. It was set right after the BJP booth agents raised a complaint. In another polling booth nearby, polling was stopped for sometime after the electronic voting machine had stopped working. The polling resumed after the issue was addressed.

In a polling booth at the Tirumangalam municipality, the authorities had failed to collect the signatures of voters. The incident has been referred to the State Election Commission. The

Polling was conducted in accordance with COVID-19 protocol. People were asked to wear face masks and maintain physical distance at the polling booths. 

Though people were seen wearing face masks, the authorities had to ask them to maintain physical distance. Sanitisers were provided. Madurai Collector S. Aneesh Sekhar cast his vote and inspected a few polling booths.

Ministers P. Moorthy and Palanivel Thiaga Rajan cast their votes and expressed confidence that the DMK would sweep the urban local bodies polls. First time voters K. Kavitha Bharathi and M. Sukisivam said their main grievance was the civic issues that were plaguing the city.