TN Assembly elections: Rajinikanth, Soundarya Rajinikanth cast their votes at Stella Maris College

Chennai saw high-profile participation as Rajinikanth, Soundarya Rajinikanth and other film stars voted in Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. Celebrities joined citizens across 234 constituencies, reflecting strong turnout in a tightly contested poll with thousands of candidates

Chennai: Superstar Rajinikanth and his daughter Soundarya Rajinikanth on Thursday joined scores of others from the state and exercised their right to vote in the intensely contested elections to the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly.

Rajinikanth, who arrived with his younger daughter, director Soundarya Rajinikanth, at the Stella Maris College for Women, proudly displayed his inked finger to the media after casting his vote. The Superstar, who was mobbed by fans and mediapersons after he cast his vote, was escorted by police personnel to the safety of his car.

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Several other stars from the Tamil film industry too turned up early to cast their votes in the ongoing election. Politician and actor Kamal Haasan arrived with his daughter Shruti Haasan to cast his vote at the Government School in Teynampet. Vikram cast his vote at The Besant Theosopical Higher Secondary School, while Gautham Karthik, the son of actor and politician Karthik, cast his vote in Stella Maris College.

Ajith, who returned in a hurry to Chennai from Belgium where he was racing along with his car racing team Ajith Kumar Racing, was among the first to turn up to cast his vote in Thiruvanmiyur.

Popular music director Anirudh Ravichander and pan Indian actor Dhanush cast their votes at the St Francis Xavier Middle School in Alwarpet at around 9 am. Several other stars and film celebrities are making their way along with scores of people across the state to select their representatives from a total of 4,023 candidates.

The nomination process, which commenced on March 30, witnessed a robust response, with as many as 7,599 nomination papers filed over a four-day period. However, the scrutiny phase led to the rejection of around 2,460 nominations due to invalid or incomplete documentation, significantly narrowing down the field.

Polling for the 234-member Assembly is being held on Thursday, with the counting of votes set for May 4.