Kerala local body elections: 76 per cent turnout recorded till 6.30 pm in second phase

Kochi, Dec 10: Polling for 8,116 wards in 451 local bodies across Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad and Wayanad districts has commenced in the second phase of local body polls in Kerala on Thursday.

The second phase has been witnessing very enthusiastic response from the electorate as after five hours of start of polling there has been a 40 per cent turnout.

Voting has begun at 7 am and will close at 6 pm.

As many as 12,643 polling booths have been set up and webcasting has also been introduced in 473 problematic polling booths. A total of 63,187 personnel have been deployed for election duty.

The Ernakulam district, which includes the Kochi corporation, has 2,045 wards in 111 local bodies. 3,132 polling booths have been set up in the district for 25,900,200 voters. There are 272 problematic booths.

15,660 personnel have been deployed for election duty in the district.

Poll officials on duty now have handy tool to access details of polling booths. A web subdomain called edrop has been created on the government portal where officials can get details about the polling booths where they have been posted. Once the office code is posted in the 'Know your posting' tab of the portal, officials will get details of the polling booth in which they have been posted.

7,255 candidates will be competing in the Ernakulam district, including 400 in Kochi. Besides the corporation, the polls will be held at 82 grama panchayats, 14 block panchayats, 13 municipalities and one district panchayat in Ernakulam.

The first of the three-phase election in the state witnessed a voter turnout of 72.67 per cent, with 98,57,208 voters participants, including 51,28,361 females, 47,28,489 males, 93 transgenders and 265 NRIs.

Of the five districts that went to the polls on Tuesday in the first phase, Thiruvananthapuram recorded 69.76 per cent polling, Kollam saw 73.41 per cent, Pathanamthitta 69.70 per cent, Alappuzha 77.23 per cent and Idukki witnessed 74.56 per cent.

The turnout in Kollam Corporation was 59.73 per cent while in Thiruvananthapuram Corporation 66.06 per cent of voters cast their votes. Municipalities and Panchayaths also recorded good voter turnout.

In a tri-corned fight between Left Democratic Front (LDF), United Democratic Front (UDF) and National Democratic Alliance (NDA), leaders of all parties expressed hope that a better voter turnout would help their party.

The final phase will be held on December 14. Votes will be counted on December 16.