Civic body polls in Kerala: 74,899 candidates in fray

A total of 74,899 candidates are in the fray for the upcoming local body polls. The candidates include 38,593 men, 36,305 women and one transgender, the State Election Commission said on Friday. Malappuram district has 8,387 candidates, the highest in the state, while Wayanad has the lowest at 1,857. "Malappuram district has the highest number of women candidates - 4,390.

The lone transgender is fighting the election in the Kannur Corporation," the Commission said in a press release. As per the Commission's release, Malappuram is the only district where women candidates outnumber men. The grama panchayats have 54,371 candidates contesting the poll out. .

Of them, 28,321 are men and 26,050 women. The district panchayats have 1,279 candidates with 594 men and 685 women, the block panchayats have a total of 6,932 candidates. Out of them, 3,540 are men and 3,392 women. The municipalities have 10,344 candidates with 5,159 men and 5,185 women. The six municipal Corporations in the state have a total of 1,973 candidates out of whom 979 are men, 993 women and one transgender.

There are 2.76 crore voters in the state, including 1.44 crore women and 282 transgenders. The state government had amended the Acts to extend the voting time by an hour till 6 pm and also to provide postal ballot facility to Covid-19 patients.

The polls are to be held in three phases. While the first phase on December 8 would cover the districts of Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha and Idukki, the second phase on December 10 would be held in Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad and Wayanad. Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod would go to the polls in the third and final phase on December 14.

An electorate of over 2.76 crore would exercise their franchise to elect representatives to 941 gram panchayats, 152 block panchayats, 14 district panchayats, 86 municipalities and six municipal corporations. The votes would be counted on December 16.