Kasaragod : The two-phase Kerala local body elections began on 2 November. The polling will conclude on 5 November, while the results will be declared on 7 November.

The major coalitions — the Congress-led United Democratic Front and the CPM-led Left Democratic Front — will face stiff competition from the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Over 1.1 crore voters will cast their votes in 9,220 wards across seven districts in Kerala.

The first phase of the election will cover Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Idukki, Wayanad, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod districts.

Voters queued up in large numbers despite heavy rains in many parts of north Kerala. Voting was disrupted in about 11 polling booths in various parts of the state due to the malfunctioning of the voting machine.

Technical issues with voting machines delayed the start of polling in six wards in Kozhikode, three in Kannur and one each in Kannur and Wayanad.

In the first phase, a total of 31,161 candidates, including 582 in district panchayats, 2844 in block panchayats, 22,788 in village panchayats, 1315 in corporations and 3632 in municipalities are in the fray.

According to state Election Commission figures, there are 1,11,11006 voters in these seven districts.

District-wise voter turnout at 5:15 pm

Kasaragod – 77%
Kannur – 76%
Kozhikode – 74%
Wayanad – 80%
Idukki – 73%
Kollam – 74%
Thiruvananthapuram – 72%