KOCHI: The second phase of local body polls in Kerala began on Thursday at 7 am in Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad and Wayanad. By 8 am, 6.56 percentage of polling was registered. Since the beginning of the polling at 7 am, the turnout of voters has been good in polling booths across the five districts. Kottayam recorded highest voting percentage of 7.31 at 8 am followed by Wayanad 6.71, Thrissur 6.54, Ernakulam 6.50 and Palakkad 6.08.
The polling is taking place following all the COVID-19 safety protocols, including physical distancing, wearing masks and sanitising hands. There are 12643 polling stations and 9856943 voters in which 5128361 voters are women, 4728489 men, 265 NRKs and 93 transgender people.
The state election commission has posted 63187 election officials for duty. In the second phase, the polling is being held to 5846 grama panchayat wards, 781 block panchayat wards, 124 district panchayat wards, 1237 municipality wards and 128 corporation wards.
There is also an arrangement to have COVID-19 patients cast their vote after 6 pm, when voting ends for the rest of the voters. Officials in PPE (personal protective equipment) kits will help them cast votes. Elections to ward no. 37 of Kalamassery municipality and 47 of Thrissur Corporation have been postponed following the death of candidates.
In the second phase polling, the most contested elections are being held in Kochi and Thrissur Corporations. In Kochi corporation, LDF has fielded young candidates to wrest Kochi from the UDF after a gap of a decade. In Thrissur, NDA front led by BJP is putting up a tight fight to increase its tally from six wards which it won in 2015. BJP has fielded its spokesperson B Gopalakrishnan as its Mayor candidate in Thrissur corporation. In 2015 polls, LDF could showcase tremendous victory in Thrissur district by winning 88 of the 111 local bodies.
In Ernakulam, the Left had won half of the 82 grama panchayats and eight of the 13 municipalities in 2015. Another closely watched contest is happening at Kizhakkambalam panchayat in Ernakulam where a non-political organisation Twenty20 backed by a corporate has pipped all major political fronts in 2015 and has now fielded candidates in nearby local bodies also.
In Kottayam district, the new political scenario following the split in the Kerala Congress (M) has resulted in a tough contest between the UDF and the LDF. The NDA led by BJP is hoping for second term in power in Palakkad municipality while the UDF is trying to retain the four municipalities held by them in Palakkad district.
The Left is trying its best to increase its tally from just two municipalities which it won in 2015. However, the LDF is confident of retaining nearly 90 percent of the grama panchayats seats which went with LDF in 2015.