2025 Kerala local body polls: State Election Commission holds meeting with political parties on polls arrangements

With Kerala moving closer to the local body elections, State Election Commissioner A. Shajahan on Wednesday held discussions with senior political party leaders in the State and sought their cooperation for the smooth organisation of the exercise.

Explaining the poll arrangements, Mr. Shajahan urged political parties to adhere to the rules governing the general elections to the local bodies. Green protocol will be in place for the elections, including the campaign phase, he said.

The State Police have been asked to ensure adequate personnel for maintaining law and order at the polling stations and counting centres.

Mr. Shajahan also urged the political parties to ensure that their representatives are present when the electronic voting machines (EVM) are commissioned. All candidates are required to furnish details of their election expenses to the officers concerned within 30 days of the declaration of the election results, he said.

Online system

The State Election Commission (SEC) has introduced an online system for filing this information, he said. The latest revision of the voters’ list was based on the delimited wards in the local bodies. The voters’ list for the local body polls had undergone comprehensive revisions on four occasions since 2020, he said.

Following the delimitation exercise by the State Delimitation Commission, the number of wards in the 1,200 local bodies had risen to 23,612. The 2025 elections are being held for 23,576 wards, excluding the 36 wards of the Mattannur municipality in Kannur where elections are due only in 2027. As per the final voters’ list published by the Commission, Kerala has 2,84,30,761 voters in all.

M.V. Jayarajan of the CPI(M); KPCC president Sunny Joseph, MLA; P.C. Vishnunadh and M. Liju of the Congress; J.R. Padmakumar of the BJP; P.P. Suneer of the CPI; P.K. Sharafudeen of the IUML; Joy Abraham of the Kerala Congress; Stephen George of the Kerala Congress (M); V. Murugadas and P. Sarngadharan Nair of the Janata Dal (S); H.R. Babu and K. Jayakumar of the RSP; Vinu K. of the AAP; and Prasad of the BSP were present at the meeting.