More than 50 elected members in local bodies disqualified under anti-defection law in the past five years in Kerala

More than 50 elected members of local bodies in Kerala have been disqualified under the anti-defection law after the 2020 local body polls, show State Election Commission data.

The majority of the members are from the grama panchayats, while others include municipal councillors.

They were disqualified under provisions of the the Kerala Local Authorities (Prohibition of Defection) Act. Following the 2020 local body polls, new governing councils took over in December 2020.

The highest number of disqualifications under the law was in 2024 which saw 22 disqualifications. This year, 19 people were disqualified. Once disqualified, they are barred from contesting local body elections for six years.

The law sets out in detail the scenarios in which an elected member in a panchayat, municipality, or Corporation can be disqualified and the actions that can entail upon defection. The commission acts on complaints pertaining to scenarios where an elected member relinquishes party membership, breaches the party whip or a candidate who won as an Independent joins a political party.

But these are not the only cases of disqualification. While announcing the 2025 local body elections on Monday, State Election Commissioner A. Shajahan had noted that close to 10,000 candidates who had contested in the 2020 local body polls had been disqualified for not filing their election expenditure.