Thiruvananthapuram: Having finalised the list of reserved wards for the upcoming local body elections in Kerala through a draw of lots, the State Election Commission is now set to decide which local bodies will be headed by representatives from various reserved categories. The process, expected to begin later this month, will be undertaken directly by the Commission.

The local bodies, which were reserved for women-general category chiefs during the previous election held in 2020, will be excluded from this list in the upcoming poll, and a draw of lots will be conducted to prepare a fresh list.

Meanwhile, instead of drawing lots, the state Election Commission will select the local bodies which are reserved for chiefs belonging to the scheduled caste-woman, scheduled caste-general and scheduled tribe-general based on their proportionate population. The procedures in this regard will be carried out considering the reservation status since 1995. In cases where the local bodies had been reserved for prolonged periods, the Commission will remove the reservation and select other local bodies where the population of the reserved category of voters comes second.

City Mayors
As the mayor posts in three of the six City Corporations were reserved for women during the last election, they will be occupied by the general category in the upcoming poll. Consequently, while Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode and Kollam Corporations will have general mayors, the post will be reserved for women in Kochi, Thrissur and Kannur.

Municipal Chairpersons
There are 87 municipalities in Kerala, of which 39 are headed by general members, 41 by women-general, three by scheduled caste-women, three by scheduled tribe-general and one by scheduled tribe-general. There is no reservation for a scheduled tribe-woman chairperson in any local body in the state.

Panchayats
Seven of the 14 district panchayats in Kerala are reserved for women-general presidents and one for the scheduled caste-general.

Of the 152 block panchayats in the state, 67 are allotted for general presidents and 77 for women, including eight for scheduled caste-woman and two for scheduled tribe-woman. Meanwhile, seven block panchayats will have scheduled caste-general presidents and one block panchayat a scheduled tribe-general president.

The president’s post in 416 of the total 941 grama panchayats in the state are allotted to the general category. Of the rest, 471 are reserved for women presidents, including 46 for scheduled caste-woman and eight for scheduled tribe-woman. Meanwhile, 46 grama panchayats will have scheduled caste-general presidents and eight will be headed by scheduled tribe-general members.