Election campaign in Kasaragod, Kannur, Kozhikode and Malappuram districts drew to a close on Saturday with political parties and fronts in the electoral battleground sweating it out as the northern districts are going to the polls on Monday in the final phase of the local body elections in the State.
Despite the pandemic constraints on electioneering, the poll campaign was at full tilt in the four districts where the electorate comprising 89,36,561 voters would cast their votes on Monday to elect their representatives in 6,869 wards/divisions in total 354 local bodies, including two Corporations and 31 municipalities.
The electorate include 46,65,510 women, 42,70,961 men and 90 transgenders. Malappuram has the highest number of voters in the State — 33,54,000.
Election machinery in the four districts has been fully geared up for the polling. There are 10,834 polling booths across the four districts. Elaborate arrangements have been made to ensure incident-free election in the region, especially politically sensitive areas in Kannur and Kasaragod.
The High Court has directed that adequate police personnel should be posted to rule out any incidents of violence or election malpractice, even in polling stations not categorised as sensitive. As many as 2,175 booths have been identified as sensitive/problematic. There will be webcasting in 1,343 booths.
In Kannur, which accounts for large number of sensitive/problematic booths, nearly 10,000 security personnel, including commandos, have been deployed for ensuring law and order on the polling day. In Malappuram, 6,190 police personnel would be posted. As many as 2,557 policemen have been deployed in Kasaragod.
Voters testing positive for COVID-19 and those being quarantined between 3 p.m. on the day before the polling and till the time the polling ends would be allowed to cast their votes with a certificate from the designated health officer. Health Department employees would be active during elections under nodal officers in charge of coordination.
