<p>The first phase of the three-tier local body polls in Kerala began on Tuesday. Despite the Covid-19 situation, polling percentage reached close to 50 per cent by noon.</p>.<p>Polling to 6,910 wards of 395 local bodies in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha and Idukki districts will be held on Wednesday.</p>.<p>The local body elections, being held in three phases on December 8, 10 and 14, are considered as the semi-finals to the Assembly polls to be held in five months. Counting of votes is scheduled for December 16.</p>.<p>The BJP is pinning high hopes of winning the Thiruvananthapuram corporation, which they lost to the Left Democratic Front (LDF) by only a few seats in 2015, and retaining the Palakkad municipality. But internal feuds among the party state leaders is indeed a cause for concern for the party.</p>.<p>The CPM-led LDF is concerned if the series of allegations against the government over nexus with gold smuggling accused and irregularities in a housing scheme for the poor would affect their prospects. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that it would be a cakewalk for the left-front owing to the welfare and development initiatives of his government over the last four year.</p>.<p>Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala said that the local body election results would witness the Left Front facing another debacle owing their corrupt governance. He also said that the polls would once again prove that there was no space for the BJP in Kerala.</p>
<p>The first phase of the three-tier local body polls in Kerala began on Tuesday. Despite the Covid-19 situation, polling percentage reached close to 50 per cent by noon.</p>.<p>Polling to 6,910 wards of 395 local bodies in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha and Idukki districts will be held on Wednesday.</p>.<p>The local body elections, being held in three phases on December 8, 10 and 14, are considered as the semi-finals to the Assembly polls to be held in five months. Counting of votes is scheduled for December 16.</p>.<p>The BJP is pinning high hopes of winning the Thiruvananthapuram corporation, which they lost to the Left Democratic Front (LDF) by only a few seats in 2015, and retaining the Palakkad municipality. But internal feuds among the party state leaders is indeed a cause for concern for the party.</p>.<p>The CPM-led LDF is concerned if the series of allegations against the government over nexus with gold smuggling accused and irregularities in a housing scheme for the poor would affect their prospects. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that it would be a cakewalk for the left-front owing to the welfare and development initiatives of his government over the last four year.</p>.<p>Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala said that the local body election results would witness the Left Front facing another debacle owing their corrupt governance. He also said that the polls would once again prove that there was no space for the BJP in Kerala.</p>
