Delhi: Kerala’s high-stakes local body elections kicked off on Tuesday amid heavy security arrangements, marking the beginning of a two-phase polling process that will decide the leadership of thousands of grassroots governance bodies across the state. The second phase of voting is scheduled for December 11, while counting will take place on December 13.
The first phase spans 11,168 wards across seven districts — Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Idukki and Ernakulam. A total of 36,630 candidates are contesting in this initial round, comprising 17,056 men, 19,573 women and one transgender candidate, reflecting a broad and diverse political field.
According to the State Election Commission, Phase 1 includes 27,141 candidates for gram panchayats, 3,366 for block panchayats, 594 for district panchayats, 4,480 for municipal wards, and 1,049 for corporation wards. Polling is being held from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm across thousands of booths.
Phase 2 on December 11 will cover the remaining seven districts — Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasaragod — completing the statewide electoral exercise.
Kerala’s final voter list, released on October 25, includes 2,84,30,761 registered voters, consisting of 1,34,12,470 men, 1,50,18,010 women, and 281 transgender electors. To accommodate this massive electorate, 33,746 polling stations have been set up across the state: 28,127 for panchayat wards, 3,604 for municipal areas, and 2,015 for corporation wards.
The last local body elections in 2020 saw the Left Democratic Front (LDF) achieve a dominant win, capturing most local bodies across Kerala. The LDF secured 40.2% of the vote share, gaining control of 514 grama panchayats, 108 block panchayats, 11 district panchayats, 35 municipalities, and 5 corporations. The UDF, with 37.9% vote share, won 321 grama panchayats, 38 block panchayats, one district panchayat, 23 municipalities and one corporation.
