RK Nagar bypoll: 73.45 % voting till 5 pm

Final voting RK Nagar bypoll - 73.45 percent.

57.16% voting recorded till 3 pm.

41.6 percent of the 2,28,234 voters exercised their franchise by 1 pm, says EC.

Himachal Pradesh: Rumours of bomb at a bus stand in Mandi, stand has been evacuated, alert issued. Search operation underway in the area

People wait in queue to cast their vote in RK Nagar bypoll in Chennai

BJP candidate K Nagarajan alleges EVM malfunctioning in RK Nagar 

23.74 percent voting recorded from 166 booths across RK Nagar constituency

RK Nagar bypoll: DMK cadres enthused after 2Gspectrum scam judgment, party says its winning margin will boost

RK Nagar bypoll: AIADMK candidate E Madhusudhanan casts his vote, says "God and Amma's grace is with us"

Chennai: AIADMK candidate E. Madhusudhanan cast his vote, says "God and Amma's grace is with us" #RKNagarByPoll #TamilNadu pic.twitter.com/6xadQI66Yj

— ANI (@ANI) December 21, 2017

Bizzare! Voter, who came to cast his vote along with his pet dog, turned away by authorities. He finally cast his vote after leaving his dog with his friend who had also come for casting vote

At least 7.32 per cent voters have cast their ballots since polling began at 8:00 am, according to Election Commission

DMK candidate N Marudhu Ganesh cast his vote at polling booth no. 134 in Chennai, says "whether it is Rs 6000 or Rs 60,000, we are going to win; voters of RK Nagar will teach a lesson to AIADMK this time"

Visual from a polling booth set up at Chennai Girls Higher Secondary School in Tiruvottiyur

#TamilNadu People queue up to vote in the #RKNagarByPoll in Chennai; visuals from a polling booth set up at Chennai Girls Higher Secondary School in Tiruvottiyur pic.twitter.com/XATxJpgYIq

— ANI (@ANI) December 21, 2017

Visual: DMK candidate N. Marudhu Ganesh casts his vote at polling booth no. 134 in Chennai

#RKNagarByPoll DMK candidate N. Marudhu Ganesh reaches polling booth no. 134 in #Chennai to cast his vote pic.twitter.com/RqxI45ekac

— ANI (@ANI) December 21, 2017

Visual: BJP candidate Karu Nagarajan casts his vote in Chennai

#TamilNadu: BJP candidate Karu Nagarajan arrives at a polling booth in #Chennai to cast his vote in the #RKNagarByPoll pic.twitter.com/KsfiXEIw8d

— ANI (@ANI) December 21, 2017

Chennai City Police Commissioner AK Viswanathan says additional force has been deployed today in view of the RK Nagar bypoll. "We will ensure free and fair elections today," he says

The polling process is being monitored by nine observers, considered the highest for a single assembly constituency. This includes general, special, police and expenditure officials

Ninety six flying squad teams, 21 Static Surveillance Teams and 20 Video Surveillance Teams have been deployed by election authorities. A total of 45 check points in and around the constituency are also manned by poll officials

Elaborate security arrangements are in place with about 2,000 State police personnel, 15 companies of Central Armed Police Forces, including CRPF deployed across 256 polling stations

RK Nagar has an electorate of 2,28,234, comprising 1,10,903 men, 1,17,232 women and 99 transgenders

Though as many as 59 candidates are in the fray, the bypoll is mainly seen as a fight between the ruling AIADMK, its rival faction led by Dhinakaran and DMK

Suspicions have been raised over circumstances leading to Jayalalithaa's demise by several persons, including now deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam and his followers

The high stakes RK Nagar bypoll is being held to fill the vacancy caused by the death of sitting MLA Jayalalithaa on December 5 last year