Published - December 07, 2025 07:51 pm IST - Thiruvananthapuram In the hectic hours marking the countdown to the culmination of the open campaigning for the first phase of the local body polls in seven southern districts of Kerala on Sunday, candidates of competing fronts undertook flashy whirlwind tours and brisk walkarounds of their constituencies to make a final, fervent and public pitch to voters. In play in the first phase of polling on Tuesday are three Municipal Corporations, 39 municipalities, seven district panchayats, 75 block panchayats, and 471 grama panchayats spanning Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Idukki, Alappuzha and Ernakulam districts. Notably, the political stakes are high for the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF), the United Democratic Front (UDF) Opposition, and the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), given the perception that the civic polls offer an approximate bellwether of Kerala’s voting behaviour ahead of the Assembly elections in 2026.
