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Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 13 (IANS) Candidates contesting the upcoming local body elections in Kerala can start filing their nominations from Friday, according to the schedule announced by the State Election Commission on Thursday.
The elections will be held in two phases, the first phase will be held on 9 December and the second phase will be held on 11 December, the counting of votes will take place on 13 December.
Nominations can be submitted every day between 11 am to 3 pm. The last date for filing nominations is November 21, while the scrutiny of papers will take place on November 22. Candidates will be allowed to withdraw nomination till November 24.
The amount of security deposit required to contest elections varies according to the level of local body. Those contesting for gram panchayat seats will have to deposit Rs 2,000; For block panchayats and municipalities, Rs 4,000; And Rs 5,000 for district panchayats and corporations.
Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe candidates will have to pay only half of the prescribed amount.
To be eligible, the candidate must be at least 21 years of age on the date of enrolment.
Candidates contesting elections in wards reserved for Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes will have to produce community certificate issued by the competent authority.
The nomination paper should be submitted in the prescribed form and signed before the Returning Officer or an officer authorized by the Commission after taking oath or affirmation as per the election guidelines.
On the day of nomination, candidates are allowed to bring only three vehicles within a radius of 100 meters of the Returning Officer’s office.
Additionally, not more than five persons, including the candidate, will be allowed to enter the Returning Officer’s room during the nomination process.
The Election Commission has also issued a detailed guideline outlining the eligibility and disqualification criteria for candidates contesting local body elections.
According to the State Election Commission (SEC), polling will take place in 1,199 local bodies – including 941 gram panchayats, 152 block panchayats, 14 district panchayats, 86 municipalities and six corporations – counting on December 13.
The first phase will cover Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Idukki and Ernakulam, and the second will cover Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasaragod.
There are 2.84 crore voters here, of which 1.33 crore are men, 1.49 crore are women and 271 are transgender persons.
Elections will be held in 23,576 wards through 33,746 polling stations, in which 1.8 lakh officials and 70,000 police personnel will be deployed.
The local body elections, to be held in multiple phases, are expected to set the stage for a major political contest across Kerala, with all three fronts – LDF, UDF and BJP considering it as the eve of the upcoming assembly elections.
–IANS
SG/DPB