The United Democratic Front is holding a final round of ‘Kottikalasham’ demonstrations, ending the campaign for the local body elections in Palakkad city on Tuesday. | Photo credit: KK Mustafah
Thorough preparations are underway for Thursday’s district council elections. About 28.6 million voters are expected to cast their votes in 3,054 polling stations from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm to choose their representatives for municipalities and three-tier panchayats. As many as 6724 candidates are applying in the entire district.
A 48-hour prohibition has been announced from Tuesday (December 9, 2025) from 6 p.m. December 13, the day of counting of votes, will also be observed as a dry day. A total of 3,054 polling stations have been set up, each designed to accommodate a maximum of 1,300 voters. Of these, 2,749 booths are in panchayats, while 305 polling booths are in municipalities.
Sensitive polling stations
As many as 284 polling stations were marked as sensitive. These are located in Palakkad, Chittoor- Thattamangalam and Cherpulassery municipalities and also in 60 gram panchayats.
LDF supporters gathered in Palakkad town on Kottikalasham on Tuesday. | Photo credit: KK Mustafah
Factors such as political clashes, community tensions, the presence of unauthorized election agents and voter pressure contributed to their classification as sensitive. Webcasting will be provided at 180 of these stands.
A total of 4,500 police officers will be deployed in the district. The security operation will be led by a team of 25 deputy inspectors, 40 inspectors and 300 sub-inspectors. In addition, a company of 140 Central Paramilitary personnel will be stationed in the district.
An additional police officer will be stationed at each of the 180 sensitive polling stations located on the site. In zones that require increased vigilance, teams of four officers will be deployed. About 500 additional policemen will be deployed to beef up security in Maoist-hit areas like Attappady.
A total of 4,366 control units and 12,393 voting units will be used in the district. In grama panchayats, each EVM will consist of one control unit and three voting units, while in municipalities, one control unit and one voting unit will be used.
The National Democratic Alliance is holding the last round of campaigning for the local body elections in Palakkad on Tuesday. | Photo credit: KK Mustafah
Voters can vote using any of the nine identification documents approved by the Election Commission. These include Voter Identity Card, Voter ID Card issued by State Election Commission, Official Identity Card issued by Central or State Government, Aadhaar Card, Passport, Driving License and PAN Card.
In the 93 constituencies of the six grama panchayats bordering Tamil Nadu, the names of the candidates will also appear in Tamil on the ballot tags in the polling machines.
Distribution of election materials will begin on Wednesday morning.
Published – 9 Dec 2025 20:39 IST
