40,000 candidates are competing for nearly 12,600 seats in seven districts today.
Months ahead of Kerala's next big state election, political parties are about to find out where they stand - the second and final phase of voting for civic bodies across the state was held today.
"We have been winning in all the previous four polls that took place and this time also it will be the same as we have absolute faith in the people. We (UDF) were not worried of what others was doing, instead we worked as a cohesive unit and hence victory would be ours," said Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, who heads the Congress-led coalition government, currently confronting bribery allegations against Finance Minister KM Mani.
"These baseless allegations against me are not going to effect the elections. Wait and watch", Mr Mani told NDTV.
40,000 candidates are competing for nearly 12,600 seats in seven districts today. The first phase of voting took place on Monday. Results will be counted on Saturday.
In the last local body elections held in 2010, the ruling coalition won the majority of panchayats, while the opposition LDF coalition swept the elections for municipal corporations in towns.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which does not have a single representative in the 140-member Kerala assembly, but has around 500 seats in the outgoing local bodies, has predicted it will be the biggest gainer. "This polls are going to show unprecedented results in Kerala and will be historic", BJP state President V Muralidharan claimed.
But Leader of Opposition VS Achuthanandan said the highlight of this election will be the total washout of the new tie-up between the Hindu Ezhava social group SNDP led by Vellapalli Natesan and the BJP.