Kerala Gears Up for Three-cornered Fight in Local Body Elections amid Covid-19 Protocols

The local body polls in Kerala, which is being considered as a litmus test for all leading parties and coalitions ahead of the Assembly elections in 2021, scheduled to be held in three phases from December 8.

In the first phase on December 8, five districts- Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathnamthitta, Alappuzha and Idukki- will go to polling. In the second phase, which is scheduled on December 10, Kottayam Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad and Wayanad and in the third phase on December 14, remaining four districts of Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod will hold polls. The election will be held adhering to strict COVID-19 protocol and it is expected to be a dress rehearsal before the crucial assembly polls next year.

The last date for filing nominations is November 19, scrutiny will be on November 20 and the last date for withdrawal is November 23. The counting of votes will take place on December 16. According to State Election Commissioner V Bhaskaran, voters who are Covid-positive can exercise their franchise through postal ballots and should inform the polling officials three days before the election.

The local body elections in the state had originally been scheduled to take place in October as the tenure of elected representatives is set to end on November 12. The alarming increase in the daily number of Covid-19 cases in August and September affected the election dates. Following this, an all-party meeting was convened by the state government and all political parties agreed to request the State Election Commission (SEC) to defer the polls by a couple of months.

The state election commissioner said the SEC had held talks with the state police chief, health secretary and various political parties before finalising the dates for the election. The Health Director had said there was no harm in conducting the polls as per strict Covid protocols.

"We have already issued directions on campaigning for the candidates. Those affected with COVID-19 should stay away from meeting people. They can canvas for votes and meet people after their results turn negative and with the instructions of a doctor," the SEC said. The voting, which will commence at 7 am, will go on till 6PM after extension of one more hour.

"If re-polling is necessitated, then it will be conducted the next day itself and arrangements have been made for that," Bhaskaran said.

An electorate of over 2.71 crore will exercise their franchise to elect representatives to 1,200 local self-governing bodies--41 gram panchayats, 152 block panchayats, 14 district panchayats, 86 municipalities and six municipal corporations. There are 34,744 polling booths across the state.

Of the total seats in these local self-government institutions, 50% is reserved to women through a bill passed by the Kerala Legislative assembly in 2009. Seats have also been reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST). All the reserved seats as well as women-only posts for president, vice-president and mayor rotate every five years.

Unlike many other states, the elections to local self-governments are being fought along political lines. The Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF), Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) and the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) are the leading fronts in the election fray. Independent candidates backed by regional citizen organisations have also entered the political battle.

"In this poll, the people will consider the developmental activities undertaken by the Kerala government and its pro-people stand. They will reject the alliance of the Congress with the pro-right wing. The BJP will lose its existing seats," Left Democratic Front convener, A Vijayaraghavan said.

On the other hand, Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly, Ramesh Chennithala claimed that the UDF was stronger than ever and the Left "is in a shambles." "The UDF is now standing stronger than ever. We hope people will come out against the corrupt government and have high hopes,” he said.

However, BJP state chief K Surendran said both the fronts are isolated from the people. "The Left is facing a backlash due to the gold smuggling case. The people have lost faith in the UDF. The BJP will be the party that will win the most number of seats in the state," Surendran told the media.

In the 2015 polls, the CPI(M)-led LDF won by bagging 551 of the 941 village panchayats, 42 of 86 municipalities, 7 of 14 district panchayats, 88 of 152 block panchayats and 4 out of the 6 corporations. The UDF had secured majority in 362 panchayats, 7 district panchayats, 2 corporations, 40 municipalities and 63 block panchayats. The BJP managed to come to power only in 14 panchayats and 1 municipality.

(With Inputs from PTI)