1.08 lakh aspirants file papers for local body polls in Kerala

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As many as 1.08 lakh candidates filed a total of 1.64 lakh nominations for the local body elections scheduled in December, the State Election Commission said on Friday, the last day to file the papers. At 57,227, women aspirants outnumber men. Malappuram had the highest number of candidates and nominations 13,595 and 19,959, respectively while Wayanad had the lowest at 3,180 candidates and 5,227 nominations. The lone transgender candidate from Thiruvananthapuram submitted three sets of papers. Scrutiny of nominations will be done on Saturday. A final picture of those in the fray will emerge after the last date of withdrawing nominations on Monday. In Kannur, six LDF candidates are unopposed. They are K Rajitha and K Premarajan (Anthoor municipality), I V Othenan and C K Shreya (Malapattam grama panchayat), and Rethi P and Reshma P V (Kannapuram grama panchayat).