Local body polls 2025: Filing of nominations to begin on November 14

Kerala State Election Commission will issue the notification for the 2025 local body polls on November 14, Friday. Candidates can file nomination papers from 11 a.m. on November 14. The deadline for filing nominations is 3 pm on November 21. 

The candidate has to be a voter in any of the wards in the concerned local body. And on the date of filing the nomination papers, he/she should have completed 21 years of age. Persons who are both deaf and dumb cannot contest. 

Candidates will also have to submit deposit money along with their nomination papers. For those contesting to grama panchayat wards, the deposit money is ₹2,000. For contestants to block panchayat and municipality wards, it is ₹4,000. And for those trying their luck in block panchayat and Corporation wards, it is ₹5,000. For SC/ST candidates, the deposit money would be half in all the categories. 

Here are the other documents to be submitted along with the nomination papers: educational qualifications, criminal cases, the candidate's and family's assets and liabilities, payment arrears to government or local bodies, and also proof of any prior disqualifications.  

A person can contest only from one ward in a corporation or municipality. If nominations are filed for more than one ward, all nominations would be rejected.

However, in the three-tier local bodies, a person can contest from all the three tiers: grama panchayat, block panchayat and district panchayat. However, after the results are published, the candidate can represent only one position. The person has to inform his choice within 15 days of the result.

Those who cannot contest
Employees of central, state and local self government institutions and the corporations controlled by them. Those who work in companies and cooperative bodies that have at least 51 per cent government stake. 

The restriction applies to employees of boards and universities, and this includes part-time workers and those who are paid honorariums. KSRTC and KSEB employees, empanelled conductors and those given temporary appointment through employment exchanges, too, are prohibited from contesting. 

Kudumbashree and community development societies (CDS) chairpersons can contest. Not CDS accountants. Those who have entered into some contract with the government or local bodies cannot contest. But those who have taken buildings or shop rooms on rent from local bodies can.

Anganwadi workers, balawadi employees and ASHA workers can contest. Saksharatha preraks but can contest only from panchayat wards.  

The nominations of those who have defaulted in their payments to the government or local bodies will be rejected. (If the debt is paid in installments, there will be disqualification only if the installments have not been honoured.)

However, this restriction will not extend to non-payment to banks, service cooperative societies, and government-run financial institutions like KFC and KSFE.  

Those convicted under Section 8 of the Representation of People Act, 1951, have been barred. Those convicted for more than three months under Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act are barred from contesting for six years.

Officers who have been dismissed for corruption are disqualified for five years. Those disqualified under the Anti-Defection Act are barred from contesting for six years. Local body candidates who had failed to submit their accounts after the last elections have also been prohibited from contesting.

Scale of local body polls 
The elections will be held in 1,199 of the 1,200 local bodies in Kerala.

Mattannur Municipality will be the sole exception as its tenure will end only on September 10, 2027. So, except for the 36 wards in Mattannur Municipality, 23,612 wards will go to polls on December 9 and 11.

After delimitation, the total number of wards in Kerala has gone up to 23,612 from 21,900. Elections will be held in 17,337 wards in the grama panchayats, 2,267 wards in the block panchayats, 346 district panchayat wards, 3,205 municipality wards and 421 corporation wards. 50.9 per cent of the total wards are reserved for women.

After the latest revision, the total number of voters in Kerala is 2,84,30,761. Of this, 1,34,12,470 are men, 1,50,18,010 are women, and 282 are transgender people.