Thiruvananthapuram: The voting in the first phase of the civic body polls in Kerala began on Monday, with around 32 percent voters exercising their franchise till 12 p.m., the office of the state election commissioner said.
Most of the UDF leaders turned up early to cast their vote.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said the UDF will repeat victory in the elections.
United Democratic Front (UDF) convenor P.P. Thankachen, who expressed supreme confidence, said that the election outcome will be a feather in the cap for the Oommen Chandy government.
KPCC President V M Sudheeran, while speaking to reporters after casting his vote at a booth in Thiruvananthapuram district, also expressed confidence of the front's good performance.
Former Union ministers Mullappally Ramachandran, Kodikunnil Suresh and state health minister V S Sivakumar were among the early voters.
The Congress-led UDF holds power in about 65 percent of the local bodies in the state.
As many as 10.1 million people are eligible to cast their votes to decide the fate of 31,161 candidates in this phase.
Altogether, over 2.50 crore voters would exercise their franchise at 35,000 polling booths in the two-phased polls.
The seven districts where polls are being held include Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Idukki, Kozhikode, Kannur, Wayanad and Kasargode.