Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala is gearing up for the local body elections scheduled for December 9 and 11, with scrutiny of nomination papers completed on Saturday. During the process, officials rejected 2,261 nomination papers. Of the 1,40,995 papers received, returning officers approved 98,451.

However, the State Election Commission has clarified that the final, accurate number of approved nominations will be available only by Sunday evening, as some returning officers continued scrutiny late into Saturday night.

In Thiruvananthapuram, 527 nominations were rejected, while Kottayam recorded 401 rejected papers.

After scrutiny, women topped the candidate list with 51,278 nominations, while 46,722 men remain in the fray. Malappuram district approved the highest number of nominations at 12,566, whereas Wayanad registered the lowest with just 2,838 approved papers.

Candidates wishing to withdraw their nominations may do so by Monday, 3 pm by submitting a notice before the returning officer. The notice, prepared in Form 5, may be submitted by the candidate, the nominator, or the candidate’s authorised agent.

The names of the candidates will be listed in Malayalam alphabetical order. The final list will be published at the offices of the respective returning officers, as well as at the panchayat, municipality, and corporation offices.