Similarly, voting began for the lone Kanniyakumari Lok Sabha seat where bypoll is being held simultaneously.
In Tamil Nadu a total of 3,998 candidates are in the fray seeking the 6.26 crore 'one day Sultan's or the voter's favour.
With 77 contenstants, the Karur Assembly seat sees the highest number of Assembly aspirants.
About 1.58 lakh security personnel have been deployed for security.
There will be a six cornered contest for occupying Fort St.George though the main contest will be between the ruling AIADMK-led alliance and the DMK-led front.
The others in the fray are actor-turned-politicians Kamal Haasan's Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) alliance, Vijayakant promoted DMDK, the alliance led by Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) floated by T.T.V.Dhinakaran and movie director Seeman's Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK).