73% turnout at Koodankulam

TIRUNELVELI: People from the Koodankulam area briskly voted for the local body election. A voter turnout of 73 per cent was seen at the Koodankulam village panchayat election. No untoward incident was reported in the area.The first phase of the local body elections held in Tirunelveli district  saw a large number of voters standing in queues to elect their local body representatives for the Koodankulam area.  Of the total 7,467 voters , 5,491 exercised their franchise.Vijayapathy village panchayat saw a voter turnout of 70 per cent.  Of the total 7,703 votes, 5,426 voters polled.  Idinthakarai, where anti-Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant protestors staged an indefinite fast, falls under Vijayapathy village panchayat.V Rajalingam, coordinator of Koodankulam Makkal Padhukappu Iyakam, told Express that as expected a large number of voters exercised their votes in the panchayat election.  A 40-year-old woman voter, Kalaiselvi of Koodankulam, said that they voted for those local body candidates who supported their protest against the Koodankulam plant. “We did not vote for the plant’s supporters,” she said, voicing most people’s concerns and belief that the winning candidate would help shut down the nuclear plant.Nelson, a shopkeeper of Koodankulam said that not a single problem cropped up in the area during the day and the people excercised their franchise peacefully.Muthia of Idinthakarai, added that since morning, voters had thronged the booths to cast their votes.Tirunelveli Range DIG (incharge) V Varadaraju stated that the pooling went on smoothly in Koodankulam area.