ECI to release exact voter turnout in TN
Chennai (PTI): The Election Commission is all set to release the exact number of persons who have exercised their franchise in the Tamil Nadu Assembly election, on Saturday. The voter turnout figures will include details of gender divisions: male, female and transgender.
The single-phase elections to the 234-seat Tamil Nadu Assembly were held on April 23, and the counting of votes will be held on May 4.
In addition, the ECI authorities here will be inspecting all the strong rooms where the EVMs and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) units are kept.
A senior ECI official here said that the 85.15 per cent voter turnout figures, released on the date of polling, are not final and they are based on data received from a subset of polling stations. He said the actual number of votes polled at each polling station is formally recorded in Form 17C, which will be cross-verified with the data in the ECI headquarters.
The poll authorities have begun scrutinising the total number of voters since Friday morning by visiting all the districts. The official stated that the overall polling turnout, which is expected to be released on Saturday, will not include data from postal ballot voting, which is compiled separately and added to the final official count.
He said about 4.18 lakh postal votes have been recorded so far across Tamil Nadu, with participation from service voters, senior citizens, and persons with disabilities across Tamil Nadu.
The official said that the ECI authorities will manually visit every strong room where the EVMs and VVPATs are kept, to review the security measures.
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Eminent philosopher, Narayana Gurukula head Muni Narayana Prasad dies at 87
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Eminent philosopher, spiritual leader Muni Narayana Prasad, who headed the famed Narayana Gurukula, passed away early Saturday, sources said.
He was 87.
He breathed his last while undergoing treatment for a brief ailment at a private medical college hospital in Venjaramoodu here, said sources at Narayana Gurukula, a Varkala-based philosophical and educational organisation inspired by the teachings of saint-social reformer Narayana Guru.
A recipient of the Padma Shri in 2024 and Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for his contributions to literature and philosophy, Prasad was an engineering graduate before choosing the spiritual path.
He worked in the state government service before joining as an inmate in Gurukula, founded by Sree Narayana Guru's disciple Nataraja Guru in 1923.
Prasad later became the head of Gurukula following the demise of its then chief and prominent philosopher Nitya Chaitanya Yati.
An eminent scholar and a prolific writer, he wrote several books on various streams, especially on philosophy and spirituality.
People from various walks of life condoled Muni Narayana Prasad's demise.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, in his condolence message, said that Muni Narayana Prasad was noted for propagating the Guru's teachings, critically interpreting his literary works, and delivering engaging lectures.
He described him as a scholar who deeply imbibed the philosophy of Sree Narayana Guru and presented it meaningfully to the world. He had the ability to communicate profound philosophical ideas in simple language, the CM noted.
Filled with humanism and a sense of equality in both words and actions, he influenced the thinking of many people, Vijayan said.
"With the passing of Muni Narayana Prasad, we have lost a teacher who taught society how to think," Vijayan added in his condolence message.
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