Very heavy polling was reported in the single phase Assembly elections in Southern states of Tamilnadu, Kerala and Union Territory of Puducherry on Wednesday. According preliminary reports, 76 to 80 per cent of polling was recorded in Tamilnadu, a new record. The Previous best was 76.57 per cent polling recorded 44 years ago in 1967. Kerala recorded 74.4 per cent of polling, the highest in the last 20 years. In Puducherry too, the voting was very heavy with 85 per cent of polling for the 30 member Assembly. Talking to reporters in New Delhi, Deputy Election Commissioner J.P. Prakash said, the polling was peaceful in all states. Tamilnadu Chief Electoral officer Praveen Kumar told our Chennai Correspondent that polling continued even after 5 pm, as long queues were seen waiting even after the end of the polling hour. In 16 constituencies in Chennai, over 63 per cent polling was recorded. In Kerala, Kuttiyadi in Kozhikode district recorded the highest 87.2 per cent polling. Of the fourteen districts, Kannur recorded maximum polling of 80.3 per cent and Thiruvananthapuram the lowest of 68.3 per cent. Pathanamthitta recorded 68.7 per cent. Traditional strong holds of both LDF and UDF witnessed heavy polling indicating neck to neck fight between the two fronts. In Puducherry, 85.1 per cent of voters exercised their frenchise for the 30 member Assembly, just half a per cent less than the previous record of 85.54 per cent set in 2006. Election commission officials say, with postal votes yet to be counted, it could also reach a new record this time. The political fortune of Chief Minister Vaithilingam, the breakaway congress leader Rangasamy and a host of others is now sealed in the Electronic Voting Machines which will be opened on the 13th of next month. In West Bengal, 480 candidates are left in the fray for the third phase of Assembly Elections in the State. Eight candidates have withdrawn their nominations on the last day for withdrawals on Wednesday.