Tamil Nadu civic polls: Second phase ends

CHENNAI: The second and final phase of the Tamil Nadu civic bodies' poll concluded Wednesday with 80 percent voting.According

to Tamil Nadu State Election Commission (SEC) officials, the polling

was largely peaceful, barring some sporadic incidents of alleged

violence.The first phase of the local body elections got over Monday with around 77 percent of the voters exercising their franchise.The

elections would decide the fate of around 411,000 candidates and elect

around 112,000 representatives. The votes would be counted October 21.The polls come nearly six months after the state assembly elections.While

the April assembly elections were fought by the parties under alliances

led by the AIADMK and DMK, this time the major parties (AIADMK, DMK,

Congress, PMK) are going it alone.The DMDK has joined hands with the Communist parties to fight the polls.The

Madras High Court declined to stay counting of the Oct 17 votes polled

in the 239 polling booths for Chennai Corporation hearing the cases

filed by DMK and PMK.The high court held that SEC can count and declare the results but subject to the final outcome of the case.The

parties had alleged booth capturing by AIADMK and SEC not complying

with the High Court orders with respect to installation of web cameras

in polling booths in Chennai.