29% vote in Vellore Lok Sabha seat till 1 pm (Lead)

Chennai, Aug 5 (IANS) Polling in the Vellore Lok Sabha constituency in Tamil Nadu is progressing steadily with 29.46 per cent votes polled till 1 p.m. on Monday, according to the Election Commission (EC). The polling began at 7 a.m.While 28 candidates are in the fray, the main contest is between A.C. Shanmugam of the AIADMK and D.M. Kathir Anand of the DMK. The constituency was to go to polls on April 18, but the voting was put off after Rs 10 crore was seized from the DMK leaders in the Vellore district. Rescinding the vote, the Election Commission had said it was "fully satisfied" that the electoral process in Vellore had been vitiated on account of unlawful activities on behalf of DMK candidate Kathir Anand and some of its workers.The Vellore seat comprises six Assembly segments -- Vellore, Anaikattu, Kilvaithinankuppam, Gudiyattam, Vaniyambadi and Ambur. There are over 1,400 polling booths.The DMK-led front won 37 of the 38 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu, polling for which was held on April 18.The AIADMK campaign has been led by Chief Minister E.K. Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam. DMK President M.K. Stalin led the campaign for his party candidate Anand.
--IANS vj/dpb/pcj