Polling began on Monday in byelections to 38 local body wards across 12 districts of Kerala, with 3,09,713 voters eligible to cast their ballots in the first such electoral test after the United Democratic Front’s victory in the Assembly elections.
Voting started at 7 am and was reported to be progressing at a brisk pace, according to reports cited by PTI. The State Election Commission said the bypolls are being held in all districts except Kollam and Alappuzha.
A total of 126 candidates are contesting the elections. The electorate includes 1,64,241 women, 1,45,468 men and four transgender voters, the commission said. The figures underline the scale of the exercise across Kerala’s local governance system, where ward-level representatives play a direct role in civic administration and public service delivery.
Palakkad has the highest number of candidates, with 23 contenders contesting seven local body wards. The remaining wards are spread across 11 other districts, although the supplied election details do not specify the number of wards in each district.
The bypolls are taking place amid criticism directed at the UDF government over several issues, including power cuts, ministers’ foreign trips and delays in providing flood-relief assistance. These concerns form part of the political backdrop to the voting, though the State Election Commission’s announcement primarily concerns the conduct and scale of the ward-level elections.
Local body bypolls can affect the balance of representation in municipal and panchayat bodies, where decisions relating to local services and civic administration are taken. However, the supplied report does not indicate whether the contests are expected to alter the control of any particular local body or identify the wards where such changes could occur.
The elections are being held with 126 candidates seeking the mandate of voters across the 38 wards. The vote count is scheduled for Tuesday, when the results will indicate how voters in the affected local areas have responded to the competing candidates and the wider political environment surrounding the polls.
