THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The fate of 31,161 candidates in the fray for the local body elections in seven districts will be decided on Monday by 1.11 crore voters.
Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Idukki, Kozhi-kode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasargod go to the polls in the first phase. Polling will be held from 7 am to 5 pm.
Of the 21,871 wards across the state, 9,220 are in the seven districts spread over four corporations, seven district panchayats, 31 municipalities, 63 blocks and 395 grama panchayats.
While voters of wards in corporations and municipalities need to elect only one representative, those in panchayats have to elect three — to district panchayat, block panchayat and grama panchayat.
Of the 31,161 candidates in the fray in the seven districts, 15,848 are women and 15,313 men. Thiruvananthapuram has 6,507 candidates, Kozhikode 5,971, Kollam 5,701, Kannur 5109, Idukki 3,339, Kasargod 2,652 and Wayanad 1,882 candidates.
As many as 15,096 polling stations have been set up and polling materials distributed to the officials on Sunday. Police has made elaborate security arrangements deploying aver 30,000 police personnel, including 10 company armed personnel from Karnataka.
Maximum deployment was made at Kannur owing to intelligence alerts on chances of violence. Heavy police bandobast has also been made at police stations in maoist-prone areas.
