How Tamil Nadu waited for Assembly election results over the decades

The wait between polling and counting of votes in election is always a nail-biting period for politicians and electors. While in the current Assembly election period in Tamil Nadu, the gap between voting (April 23) and counting (May 4) is only 10 days, there have been instances where such waiting period lasted over 30 days.

The 1967 Madras State Legislative Assembly election, a watershed moment that rewrote the State’s political destiny as the DMK dethroned the Congress, was held following a delimitation exercise. The number of constituencies was expanded from 206 to 234. The polling took place in three phases on February 15, February 18, and February 21. However, only 233 seats went for polling. Polling in Thirumangalam constituency in Madurai was cancelled due to the death of a candidate and held on April 29 that year. Counting for the main phases commenced on February 23.