Overview
- The State Election Commission is expected to announce the schedule for elections across nearly 1,200 local bodies, including 941 gram panchayats, 152 block panchayats, 14 district panchayats, 87 municipalities and six corporations.
- The UDF named 48 candidates for the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation and launched a citywide campaign across all 101 wards under K. Muraleedharan with V. D. Satheesan flagging it off.
- Former MLA K. S. Sabarinathan will contest the Kawdiar ward, marking the first time a former legislator has been fielded in a Kerala municipal corporation race.
- In Irinjalakuda, a 41-member council currently split UDF 17, LDF 16 and NDA 8 has set up a triangular contest as the BJP claims new traction, including among some Christian voters, with cooperative bank scandals and RBI control of the Town Cooperative Bank eroding trust.
- In Malappuram, the UDF’s strong 2020 base faces strain from Congress–IUML rifts in select panchayats and the challenge of accommodating 281 new wards created by delimitation.