THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the State Election Commission (SEC) set to finish the second summary revision of the voters’ list and assigning of reserved wards by October end, the stage is set for the declaration of local body elections in the state by the first week of November and conduct of polls in early December.
“The poll panel’s preparedness is in full swing to ensure that the newly-elected governing councils assume charge in local bodies well before the December 20 deadline,” State Election Commissioner A Shajahan told TNIE.
While hinting that the election would be declared early next month and the election held in early December, the official said the exact dates would be finalised after a detailed review of security and various other factors. The present governing councils in local bodies had assumed office on December 21, 2020, and election rules mandate that new councils should assume charge within five years of that date.
Beginning October 13, the SEC will begin the process of determining the wards to be reserved for women, Scheduled Caste (SC) women, Scheduled Tribe (ST) women and SCs and STs, through a draw of lots. The reservation process for the five types of local bodies will be completed by October 21 following which the poll panel will determine the reservation of chairpersons posts in local bodies.
In May this year, the local self-government department had issued an order fixing the number of local body chairperson positions reserved for women and Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) members. Meanwhile, the second summary revision of the electoral roll is presently under way and the process would be completed by October 25.
“Once the reservation of wards and local body heads is completed and the voters’ list is finalised, the poll panel can declare the election after conducting a final review,” Shajahan said.
In the 2020, the local body election was announced on November 6. For the first time in the state, the polls were conducted in three phases - December 8, 10 and 14 - owing to the Covid pandemic.
The delimitation exercise to redraw the boundaries of local bodies was completed recently. Following the exercise, the number of wards in grama, block and district panchayats, municipalities and corporations had increased from 21,900 to 23,612.