Overview
- LDF announced 70 candidates for the 76-seat Kochi Corporation, citing about 56% women representation and leaving six divisions to be finalised.
- Congress released its first Kochi list with 40 nominees, including 22 women, and said a second tranche will follow, featuring ex-CPI(M) leader V. P. Chandran as a UDF-backed independent.
- The LDF completed Kannur district panchayat seat sharing with CPI(M) contesting 16 of 25 seats and later unveiled its CPI(M) candidate slate, 15 of them newcomers.
- Congress leaders said mid-November ‘charge sheets’ against LDF-run bodies will anchor their campaign, including references to the Sabarimala gold case and claims of pre-poll welfare giveaways.
- Smaller outfits such as Twenty20, RMP, SDPI, WPI, AAP and AITC said they will field widely, while delimitation like Nedumangad’s three new women-reserved wards and reports of CPI(M) rebels in Thiruvananthapuram add volatility.