After the political and administrative hiccups associated with the controversial delimitation and ward restructuring processes, political parties in Kerala have started preparing for the crucial civic polls to be held in November, which is being described as the
semi-finals for the 2016 Assembly elections.
The two main political formations in the State, Congress-led ruling UDF and CPI(M)-headed Opposition lDF, have already completed the preliminary round of discussions on the local civic body elections while the BJP, which is confident of making a huge impact on the electoral scene this time, is set to start its preparations formally in a week’s time.
The State Election Commission is expected to issue the schedule and notification for the civic poll within two weeks. The commission has already said that the election will be held in a single phase but on two days. The entire poll process has to be over before November 15 and new councils will take charge by December 1.
As per normal schedule, the civic polls were to be held in October so that new councils in local bodies could take charge by November 1.
However, the poll was delayed this time due to the non-completion of the delimitation process in panchayats and municipalities in time due to legal and technical issues and court cases.
Election will be held to the governing bodies of 941 Grama Panchayats, 87 Municipalities and six city corporations. As per the draft voters’ list prepared by the Election Commission, there are a total of 2.49 crore voters in the State and 50.40 lakh of them are new voters. There were 978 Grama Panchayats in the State when election was held in 2010.
According to observers, the civic poll is going to be a “big battle” because its results will be seen as the pointer to the outcome of the 2016 Assembly election.
“The UDF needs a huge victory so that it can go to the Assembly polls with confidence while the lDF needs a greats performance to prove that it is ready to take over the reins of State administration,” said a senior journalist.
Still, the burden is heavier for the lDF. It has to recapture the upper hand it had in local bodies of the State till 2010. The lDF was in power in about 65 percent of the local bodies till 2010 but after the election that year its dominance shrank to less than 35 percent. The BJP is considering the coming civic poll as its best-ever chance to prove that it has grown in size and might.
A meeting of the UDF held in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday decided to launch its civic poll campaign with a convention to be held on October 6.
Congress working Committee member AK Antony will inaugurate the convention. The Congress would hold bilateral talks with UDF constituents before the convention, front convener PP Thankachan said after the meeting.
With the preparations for polls have started disputes over seats in the UDF. RSP, a late entrant into the UDF, has already staked its claim for all the seats it had been contesting when it was part of the lDF prior to March, 2014. The Kerala Congress (M), third biggest constituent of the UDF, has made it clear that it needs to get “enough seats to suit its strength”.
The Opposition lDF, which held its poll-related meet the other day, has decided to go for local adjustments with groups and outfits which are opposed to both the UDF and the BJP.
According to lDF convener Vaikom Viswan, the manifestos for the civic poll at district levels will be ready by October 10 and district-level lDF meets will be held before the close of this month.