Kerala Local Body Elections: 5 Districts Go to Polls on Dec 8 in First Phase

The first phase of the local body elections in Kerala will begin on Tuesday, December 8, with voters from five districts casting their votes. Of the total 14 districts, Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha and Idukki will go to polls in the first phase. The second phase of election will be held on December 10 and the third and last phase of the election are on December 14. 

The ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF), which has maintained an upper hand in the election campaigns from early days to till the last minute, is confident of a resounding victory. While the main opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front is hoping to make a strong come back. The BJP led National Democratic Alliance (NDA, on the other hand, hopes to make inroads in the strong holds of both LDF and UDF.

Though the main fight is between LDF and UDF, NDA has significant presence in certain pockets which were once the bastion of Congress and UDF. For example in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, in 2015 elections, LDF had bagged 43 seats out of 100. BJP had emerged as the main opposition with 35 seats and UDF had got 21 seats. However, in 2010, BJP had only six seats here when LDF had 51 seats and UDF had 40 seats. This time, Thiruvananthapuram Corporation is one among the bodies facing a strong triangular battle. 

While, the LDF has raised the slogan of development and welfare of the people during the campaigns, both the UDF and NDA have been raising seemingly baseless allegations over the developmental activities of the state government and trying to create a smokescreen over it.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday, December 5, hit out at the Opposition Congress and the BJP for joining hands against the Left Front government and said the Centre, "which cannot purchase MLAs in the state" was using various investigation agencies to overthrow the state government. He added that at certain places. the Congress and the BJP have joined hands publicly to fight against the Left candidates in the local body polls.

He pointed out that across the state, numerous independent candidates are fighting the polls with the joint support of the Congress and the BJP. The chief minister also questioned why the Congress in the state have not uttered a single word against the BJP despite all the protests happening across the country against the saffron party.

"Our state is far ahead in fighting communalism and upholding secularism. LDF has always fought communalism. We will stand strong for what is right and our stand is not to please the communal elements. The Left is not ready to stoop to political lows for the sake of a few votes," Vijayan said.

He also lashed out at the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) for allegedly joining hands with the Jamaat-e-Islami-promoted Welfare Party and said the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) will understand the mistake after the election.

Also read: Kerala Local Elections: Govt. Campaigns on Welfare Work, Opposition Fishes for Issues

Meanwhile, on Sunday night, Rashtriya Swayamseval Sangh members targeted and killed a CPI(M) activist, Manilal, in Munroe Island, Kollam, just a day ahead of elections. The LDF camp, however, termed it as the BJP-RSS’s efforts to disrupt smooth elections in the region.

In Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha and Idukki districts, a total of  88,26,620 people will go to the polls on Tuesday. Of the total,  41,58,341 are males, 46,68,209 are femalevoters and 70 are transgender voters. Thiruvananthapuram district has the highest number of voters - 28,38,077 and Idukki has the lowest number of voters in these districts with 9,04,643. 

A total of 24,584 candidates are seeking votes in the first phase with11,225 polling stations being set up in these five districts (Village– -9528, City–- 1697). A total of 56,122 employees have been deployed on election duty and 16,968 policemen have been deployed for security. 

In the wake of COVID-19, the Election Commission had banned rallies and mass demonstrations but it did not affect the election preparation of parties. Instead of large rallies and demonstrations, parties focused on micro level campaigns. 

The COVID-19 patients and people who are under quarantine have postal ballot facility. A team, consisting of a special polling officer (SPO), a special polling assistant (SPA) and a police officer, were visiting each such voter and distribute among them application and declaration forms and postal ballots beginning December 2.

"In each district, the list of special voters will be prepared 10 days prior to the polling day and will be revised every day till 3 PM of the day before voting," state Election Commissioner V Bhaskaran had said earlier. The special postal vote Is not allowed for those who test positive for the viral infection or go into quarantine after 3 PM on the day before voting.

“They can visit the polling booths directly, wearing PPE kits and adhering to other safety measures,” the SEC had said last week. Both the voter and the candidates would be informed beforehand about the proposed visit of the polling team to distribute the ballot and declaration form, the official added.

(With inputs from PTI)