269 candidates in fray in Kerala polls

In all, Kerala has 2,42,51,942 voters, including 1,25,70,439 women and 1,16,81,503 men. There are also 11,174 non-resident Indians (NRIs) registered as voters in the state, according to official data released here today.

Two of the 20 constituencies in the state - Alathur and Mavelikkara — are reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates.

Thiruvananthapuram, from where Union Minister Shashi Tharoor is seeking re-election, has the highest number of candidates at 20. Mavelikkara has the least number of candidates at nine.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded its nominees for all 20 seats, while the Congress is contesting 15 seats, having left the remaining five for its allies in the United Democratic Front in the state.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist), the main constituent of the Left Democratic Front, is contesting for 16 seats and the Communist Party of India (CPI) for three. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has fielded candidates for 19 seats.

Among the registered political parties, the IUML has fielded two candidates, the RSP 1, the Kerala Congress 1, the Janata Dal (Socialist) 1, the Janata Dal 1.

The newly-floated Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led by former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has put up candidates for 15 seats.

There are as many as 175 independent candidates in the fray.

In terms of the electorate, Pathanamthitta is the largest constituency with 12,98,267 voters, while Chalakudy, with 11,21,133 voters, is the smallest.

The Election Commission will deploy 20 General Observers, nine Expenditure Observers and two Awareness Observers in the state. More than 100,000 polling personnel will be deployed to ensure the smooth conduct of the polls.

The commission will set up 21,424 polling stations and deploy an equal number of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in them.

news@khaleejtimes.com

• India