Battle lines have been drawn with the District Election Office notifying the final list of contestants for the three-tier local body polls in Kozhikode district.
After the final list of contestants was compiled, as many as 5,985 candidates are in the fray. Of them, 284 belonged to the Scheduled Caste community, including 162 women.
The contest is in 91 local bodies — Kozhikode Corporation, seven municipalities, 70 grama panchayats, 12 block panchayats and district panchayat.
As many as 3,999 persons, including rebel and namesake candidates, have withdrawn their nomination papers while nomination papers of 115 persons were rejected after scrutiny.
There are 350 candidates, including 177 women, in the fray for 75 divisions of the Kozhikode Corporation. There are 102 candidates, including 55 women, in the fray for 27 divisions of the district panchayat, while 882 candidates are vying for seven municipalities. The highest number of contestants (146) is at Vadakara, while Ramanattukara has the lowest number at 99 candidates.
A total of 557 are in the fray in 12 block panchayats and 4,090 candidates are in the electoral battle in grama panchayats. Kunnamangalam grama panchayat has the highest number of candidates at 91 while Kunnummal and Keezhaiyur grama panchayats have least number of contestants at 39.
In Malappuram
As many as 8,387 candidates are in the fray in Malappuram district after the deadline for withdrawal of nominations closed on Monday. District officials said that 5,583 people withdrew their nominations.
To the district panchayat, 145 candidates are in the fray. Eighty-two of them are men and 63 women. As many as 1,524 candidates are in the fray in 12 municipalities in the district.
While 816 of them are men, 708 are women. There are 839 candidates to 15 block panchayats. While 455 of them are men, 384 are women. As many as 5,879 candidates are in the fray in 94 grama panchayats. Of them, 3,033 are men and 2,846 women.
