"Have full confidence that our party will win": UDF Convenor Adoor Prakash as Kerala votes for local body polls

Pathanamthitta (Kerala) [India], December 9 (ANI): As the voting for the first phase of the Kerala local body elections began, United Democratic Front (UDF) Convenor Adoor Prakash on Tuesday cast his vote and said that there is "no doubt that his party will win the elections".
Speaking to ANI at a polling booth in Adoor, the UDF Convenor said, "This election we will win without doubt. We have full confidence that UDF will win these elections."
Meanwhile, State Election Commissioner A Shajahan said the first phase of polling was underway in seven districts and described the process as "peaceful".According to official data for the local body polls, as of 9 am, the voting percentage for the Thiruvananthapuram corporation remains at 7.7 per cent, followed by 7.9 per cent in Kollam, and nine per cent in Kochi.
The districts include Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Idukki and Ernakulam. The local body polls are being held in these districts across the three-tier panchayat system, including gram and block panchayats, municipalities, and corporations.
"It's a peaceful polling process that has been going on at every polling station. The first phase of polling is being held in 7 districts. The state election commission has made all the arrangements for a peaceful polling process. We are hopeful for a good voter turnout," SEC Shajahan told ANI.
The SEC said polling in Vizhinjam, under the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, had to be discontinued after a candidate died just before the polls began.
"In Vizhinjam, a municipality in Trivandrum, polling was to be done in 10 polling stations, but due to the demise of a candidate right before the commencement of polls, we had to discontinue the polling process there. The commission will freshly notify the election, and polling will be held accordingly," he said.
Elections are to be held in 1,199 of the total 1,200 local bodies in Kerala on December 9 and 11, with counting scheduled to be held on December 13.
Kerala BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar, AICC general secretary KC Venugopal, Union Minister George Kurian, and Kerala LoP VD Satheesan were among those who cast their votes.
Additionally, 75,643 candidates were contesting for 23,576 wards across the state. The election process is being conducted in two phases: 11,168 wards in the first phase and 12,408 in the second. Polling for the first phase of the Kerala Local Body Elections began at 7 am today. (ANI)