Kerala civic body polls commence

Thiruvananthapuram, Oct.23 (ANI): The first phase of the civic body polls began in Kerala on Saturday, as people from seven districts, out of the 14, visited polling stations to cast their votes.

In Thiruvananthapuram, the polls began early on Saturday, but found few takers as there were barely any queues at the polling stations.

Viswanathan, one of the voters, said that the polls would give people an opportunity to do something for the society via the local government.

"India is a democratic country. That is why we are giving our votes. Everyone should vote because people are going to choose the government, and government can do something for the people," said Viswanathan.

About 29,000 candidates are contesting for the polls out of which 50 percent is reserved for women candidates and is the first for the state to have such a reservation by the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) government.

A total of 21,612 seats are reserved for women in Village Council, Block and district bodies, Municipal councils and City corporations.

Over 10 million voters are expected to cast their votes in the polling for local bodies in seven districts of Kerala, and as many as 9,238 seats are up for grabs in these districts. Elections for the remaining seven districts would be held on Monday (Oct. 25).

Votes would be counted on Wednesday (Oct. 27). The second phase of polls will begin on October 25. By K S Aashik (ANI)