Thiruvananthapuram: The nomination process for Kerala’s local body elections will begin on Friday, as per the schedule released by the State Election Commission. Polling will be held in two phases, on December 9 and 11, with counting scheduled for December 13.
Candidates can file nominations daily between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. until November 21. Scrutiny will take place on November 22, and the deadline for withdrawal is November 24.
Security deposits vary by tier: ₹2,000 for gram panchayats, ₹4,000 for block panchayats and municipalities, and ₹5,000 for district panchayats and corporations. Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe candidates are required to pay only half the prescribed amount.
Eligibility criteria include a minimum age of 21 years on the date of nomination. Candidates contesting in reserved wards must submit a valid community certificate.
Nomination papers must be submitted in the prescribed format and signed before the Returning Officer or an authorised official, following an oath or affirmation. On nomination day, candidates may bring up to three vehicles within a 100-metre radius of the Returning Officer’s office, and only five persons, including the candidate, are permitted inside the submission room.
The Election Commission has issued detailed guidelines outlining eligibility and disqualification norms.
Polling will be conducted across 1,199 local bodies, including 941 grama panchayats, 152 block panchayats, 14 district panchayats, 86 municipalities, and six corporations.
The first phase will cover Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Idukki, and Ernakulam. The second phase will include Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur, and Kasaragod.
Kerala has 2.84 crore registered voters, 1.33 crore men, 1.49 crore women, and 271 transgender persons. Voting will take place in 23,576 wards through 33,746 polling stations, with 1.8 lakh officials and 70,000 police personnel deployed.
The elections are expected to serve as a political litmus test ahead of the state Assembly polls, with the LDF, UDF and BJP treating the contest as a key indicator of public sentiment.
(Inputs from IANS)