As the deadline for filing nominations for the local body elections scheduled for October 23 and 25 in the State ended on Monday, 1,49,649 candidates have thrown their hat into the ring for 21,612 seats in various local bodies.
The State Election Commission said a total of 1,13,978 nominations had been filed for the grama panchayats, 14,037 for the block panchayats, 2,576 for the district panchayats, 15,304 for the municipalities and 3,754 for the City Corporations. Elections were being held to 977 grama panchayats, 152 block panchayats, 14 district panchayats, 59 municipalities and five City Corporations.
On Monday, 71,738 nominations were filed across the State. These comprised 52,182 for the grama panchayats, 8,866 for the block panchayats, 1,655 for the district panchayats, 7,357 for the municipalities and 1,678 for the Corporations.
Racing against deadline
A mad rush of candidates was witnessed across the State from 11 a.m. As the deadline was 3 p.m., the authorities had to issue tokens to all those who were in the line to allow them to file their nominations. In some districts, the process of filing was completed late in the night.
Malappuram district has the highest number of 19,530 nominations, while Wayanad has the lowest of 4,846. The breakdown of the nominations filed since September 27 when the process began shows that the second highest of 17,769 nominations was filed in Thrissur district followed by Thiruvananthapuram (12,645), Kozhikode (12,551), Palakkad (12,093), Ernakulam (11,769), Alappuzha (11,035), Kottayam (10,866), Kannur (9,125), Kollam (8,592), Pathanamthitta (7,209), Idukki (6,028) and Kasaragod (5,591).
Dies in queue
In Idukki district, A.M. Sebastian, 65, a Congress leader, died of cardiac arrest while standing in the queue to file his nomination paper on Monday.
Of the 21,612 seats, 11,135 are reserved for women. The scrutiny of the nominations will take place on Wednesday and the last date for withdrawal is Thursday.
The political parties who need election symbols should submit the consent letter to the returning officer before 3 p.m. on Thursday, a release from the State Election Commission said here on Monday night.
