The State Election Commission has accepted the filing of 7,496 nominations for the 1,512 seats spread over the three-tier local body elections in the district.
These include the 103 nominations for the 22 member district panchayat, 584 nominations filed for the 146 seats in 11 block panchayats, and 5,708 nominations for the 1,140 seats spread over 71 grama panchayats.
Among the six municipalities in the district Changanassery municipality has received 255 nominations, Vaikom 93, Pala 104, Erattupetta 153, Kottayam 295, and Ettumanur 201 nominations.
The huge number of prospective candidates in the fray points to the failure of the leaders to iron out the difference till the last moment and it is believed a good number of the surplus nominations will be withdrawn by 3 p.m. on Saturday.
