Kerala Local Body Election Results 2020 LIVE Updates: The Kerala State Election Commission will begin counting of votes today at 8 am for 21,893 wards in 1,200 local bodies which went to polls in three phases. While the ruling LDF is hoping for an “iconic victory” on the back of welfare measures taken during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Congress-headed United Democratic Front (UDF) is hoping to corner the LDF over corruption cases most notably involving the Chief Minister’s Office in a gold smuggling case. The third and the final phase of the local body polls concluded in Kerala on Monday in the four northernmost districts, with 78.62 per cent turnout being recorded, according to the State Election Commission. As per latest details issued by the SEC, Kozhikode district recorded the highest turnout with 78.98 per cent, followed by Malappuram (78.86) and Kannur 77.54) Kasaragod recorded the lowest voter turnout with 77.14 per cent.
The second phase of the election held on December 10 for Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad and Wayanad districts recorded a voting per cent of 76.78 per cent. The first phase for the southernmost districts including Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha and Idukki on December 8 recorded a turnout of 73.12 per cent. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Industries Minister E P Jayarajan, senior CPI(M) leader and Polit Bureau member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, Congress leader and former minister Aryadan Mohammed, IUML state president Panakkad Hyderali Shihab Thangal and P KKunhalikutty, MP, were among those who voted in the third phase. Vijayan later expressed confidence that the ruling Left Democratic Front would achieve an impressive victory in the crucial local body polls, considered a curtain raiser for the Assembly elections due next year.