The Tamil Nadu Assembly elections saw strong participation in voting across 234 constituencies, with long queues seen at many polling stations and steady turnout in urban and rural areas.The day saw high-profile voting, with top political leaders, celebrities and first-time voters turning out to vote in large numbers in Chennai, Salem, Coimbatore and other districts.TVK chief Vijay had also written a letter to the Election Commission demanding extension of voting time, citing delays and slow pace due to long queues at many booths.In a notable attraction, a robot dressed in traditional Tamil attire was deployed at a Chennai polling booth to welcome voters, adding a tech-driven charm to the voting process.Over 5.7 crore voters are deciding the fate of over 4,000 candidates in the triangular contest between the DMK-led alliance, the AIADMK-led NDA and actor Vijay’s TVK, which is set to kick off the polls.

Stable voting in all districts

Polling stations across Tamil Nadu witnessed continuous voting throughout the day, with long queues reported in many areas. Election Commission data indicated that participation has been increasing since the morning, reaching 56.81 per cent by 1 pm, with many districts recording brisk voting activity in urban and rural areas.

Top leaders cast their votes early

Chief Minister MK Stalin, Deputy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin, AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami, TVK chief Vijay and senior leaders including P Chidambaram, Kanimozhi, Anbumani Ramadoss were among the early voters. Stalin urged citizens to participate, saying, “Tamil Nadu will win.”

Star power dominated the voting day

Kollywood celebrities added major visibility to the election process. Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan, Vijay, Sivakarthikeyan, Ajith Kumar, Suriya, Dhanush, Vikram, Jeeva, Sasikumar, RJ Balaji, Trisha, Anirudh Ravichander and many others cast their votes in Chennai and other districts. Many actors also encouraged responsible voting and civic participation.

Vijay hints at delay, demands more time for voting

TVK chief Vijay, who is contesting the elections, has written a letter to the Election Commission demanding extension of polling time by two hours, citing long queues and slow voting at many booths in Tamil Nadu. In his letter to the Chief Election Commissioner, he said, “There are reports from polling centers that voters are waiting in long queues to cast their votes, but the voting process is slow,” and urged intervention to prevent inconvenience to voters.He also called for better supervision and deployment of designated officers to ensure smooth crowd management and more efficient polling, and said delays could discourage voters from exercising their franchise.

Robot welcomes voters at Vellore booth

A robot dressed in traditional Tamil attire was deployed to welcome voters at a polling booth at the Government Muslim Higher Secondary School in Vellore. The initiative attracted attention as it welcomed citizens to come to vote and highlighted a tech-driven approach to voter participation.

Triangular political competition has intensified

The main contest is between the ruling DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance and the AIADMK-led NDA, while actor Vijay’s TVK is attempting to emerge as the third force in its electoral debut. DMK leader A Raja claimed that the alliance could get more than 200 seats, while opposition leaders expressed confidence of returning to power.

Voting Logistics and Security

The Election Commission deployed central and state forces along with EVM and VVPAT systems at over 75,000 polling stations. With over 3.6 lakh personnel on election duty, special facilities were arranged for elderly voters, first-time voters and persons with disabilities.

Results on 4th May

Voting will end at 6 pm, counting of votes will take place on May 4. The outcome will determine whether the DMK will retain power, the AIADMK will make a comeback, or whether the TVK will disrupt the traditional Dravidian political system in Tamil Nadu.

Sabarimala Temple (Kerala Tourism Photo)

New Delhi: Hearing a case of gender discrimination in temples like Sabarimala, the Supreme Court on Thursday said it respects the views of eminent writers and thinkers but cannot rely on information from ‘WhatsApp University’.‘The comments came from a nine-judge Constitution bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant, which was hearing petitions on the scope of religious freedom among different religions. The bench comprised Justices BV Nagarathna, MM Sundaresh, Ahsanuddin Amanullah, Arvind Kumar, Augustine George Masih, Prasanna B Varale, R Mahadevan and Joymalya Bagchi.During the hearing, senior lawyer Neeraj Kishan Kaul, appearing for the Dawoodi Bohra community chief, referred to an article by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on judicial restraint in religious relief cases.Responding, Chief Justice Kant said the court respects eminent persons and jurists, but personal opinions are just that.Kaul argued that knowledge from all sources should be welcomed. He said, “If knowledge comes from some source, some country or university, it should be accepted. We are too rich as a civilization to reject knowledge.”Justice Nagarathna, in a light-hearted moment, said: “But not from WhatsApp University.”Kaul replied that he was not concerned with evaluating sources, reiterating that the main thing is to accept knowledge wherever it comes from.A day earlier, the top court had said that it is extremely difficult – if not impossible – for courts to define what is an essential religious practice.In a 4-1 judgment in September 2018, a five-judge Constitution bench had lifted the ban on entry of women aged between 10 and 50 into the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple, declaring the practice unconstitutional.

New Delhi: For thousands of elderly and seriously ill patients dependent on the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS), the biggest threat is now not just the disease itself, but also the delay in getting approval for treatment.A memorandum sent to Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda highlighted how life-saving procedures and medicines are getting stuck in the slow-moving approval system, forcing patients to wait for 45 to 120 days – which many do not have.Under the existing mechanism, even after a government specialist prescribes urgent treatment, cases involving high-cost or unlisted treatments must be cleared by a Central Standing Technical Committee (STC) in Delhi. The process involves multiple layers of file movement and depends on meetings that may be held only once a month.For diseases such as cancer, heart failure and advanced kidney disease, such delays can be decisive.“Delay in treatment means loss of life. The condition of patients is deteriorating pending approval,” said TK Damodaran, general secretary of CGHS Beneficiaries Welfare Association of India.The association has documented cases where critical treatment windows were missed. In liver cancer, about 23% of patients saw tumors become inoperable while waiting for approval for ablation procedures. In lung cancer patients requiring immunotherapy, disease progression was reported in more than 40% of cases while waiting. Heart failure patients requiring advanced equipment faced delays of more than three months, while deaths were reported while files were pending.Doctors say such delays impair clinical judgment. “These treatments are time-bound. If the intervention is delayed, the outcomes get significantly worse,” said a senior specialist at a government hospital.Attempts to contact the CGHS director for comments received no response. He neither answered calls nor responded to questions sent to him on WhatsApp.This issue raises serious legal concerns. In the case of Parmanand Katara vs. Union of India, the Supreme Court held that preservation of life is paramount. In Paschim Banga Khet Mazdoor Samiti v. State of West Bengal, it ruled that failure to provide timely treatment is a violation of the right to life under Article 21.Despite advances in digital health systems, approval remains centralized, with decisions for patients across the country being taken by a Delhi-based panel. Health policy experts say this creates inequity and turns a patient’s right to treatment into a lengthy administrative process.The association has urged immediate reforms, including decentralizing approval powers, setting strict timelines and introducing deemed approval if decisions are not taken within a few days. It has also sought automatic clearance and emergency provisions for life-saving care for elderly patients.As India pushes for faster, technology-driven healthcare delivery, the gap between medical urgency and administrative response is becoming harder to ignore.“Doctors prescribe immediately. The system responds months later,” Damodaran said.

New Delhi: The first phase of voting got off to a turbulent start in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district with clashes, allegations of voter intimidation and technical glitches.West Bengal Phase 1 Voting – Follow Live Updates Tension erupted overnight when crude bombs were reportedly hurled near Shivnagar Primary School, injuring at least one person and spreading panic. A victim told news agency ANI, “I had gone out to offer Namaz at around 8 pm last night...I was standing…two boys came and threw a bomb near my feet. Humayun Kabir’s party workers have done this…” Violence spread on voting day on Thursday. A scuffle broke out between the two Trinamool Congress (TMC) activist and Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AUJP) founder Humayun Kabir visited the affected area. However, Kabir rejected the allegations, saying, “Peaceful elections are being held on all the 22 seats of Nauda, ​​Rezinagar and Murshidabad. But here some incident happened overnight at booth number 9 and 10 of Nauda. They snatched the bags of the local police.In Domkal, many voters alleged that they were threatened and prevented from reaching polling stations. Residents of Raipur village claimed that armed men were present since morning, creating an atmosphere of fear. The allegations were leveled at the ruling TMC, which did not immediately react. Election Commission A report was sought, and later heavy security was deployed to escort voters to the booths when polling resumed.Voting was delayed or stopped due to EVM malfunction at several booths in Murshidabad, including Beldanga, Samsherganj and Kandi. Similar issues were also reported in Nandigram, Malda, Cooch Behar and Siliguri. Congress candidate Sanjay Adhikari said, “We have already filed a complaint… Hundreds of voters are already standing in the queues… and there is no Election Commission representative here who can tell us when the elections will resume.”Voting began at 7 am in 152 constituencies, with 18.76 percent voting recorded till 9 am.