KOCHI: Seven districts in the state will go to the polls in the second and final phase on Thursday. In all, 1,39,97,529 voters from Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Ernakulam, Kottayam, Thrissur, Palakkad and Malappuram are expected to exercise their franchise to elect 12,561 representatives from 44,388 candidates. Female voters who number 86,08,540 will have an upper hand over males (53,89,079).
The local bodies going to the polls include Kochi and Thrissur city corporations which are witnessing intense battle between the UDF and LDF for power. Elections will also be held in 55 municipalities, 546 village panchayats, 89 block panchayats and seven district panchayats. Of the 55 municipalities, 14 are newly created ones.
Security has been beefed up in booths in Palakkad owing to Maoist threat. There will be web casting from 186 sensitive booths in six districts. Pathanamthitta, with the lowest number of voters, wards and candidates, is absent from the list of sensitive booths.
Malappuram, with highest number of voters, wards and candidates among all the districts, will be the focus of attention for the collapse of coalition relations among constituents of UDF, LDF.