Tamil Nadu: Voters in a polling booth here were in for a pleasant surprise on Thursday when they spotted Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami queuing up like other citizens to vote. Palaniswami, who heads the ruling AIADMK, displayed his voter identity card and the booth slip to the media before casting his vote in Edappadi.

Tamil Nadu: CM Edappadi K Palanisamy cast his vote at a polling station in Edappadi, Selam. #LokSabhaElections2019 pic.twitter.com/mnh6hBLwwx

— ANI (@ANI) April 18, 2019

The AIADMK and the DMK are leading the two main alliances in the battle for Tamil Nadu's 38 Lok Sabha seats. Voting in Tamil Nadu began at 7 a.m. on Thursday in 38 Lok Sabha seats and 18 assembly constituencies where by-elections are being held. About 5.8 crore voters will decide the fate of 822 candidates in the Lok Sabha polls. While Tamil Nadu has a total of 39 Lok Sabha constituencies, President Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday rescinded the poll for Vellore constituency after the Income Tax (IT) department seized unaccounted cash from a cement warehouse of a DMK functionary.