Scrutiny of nomination papers underway in Kerala

The election offices turned a beehive of activities on Saturday with the scrutiny of nominations starting in the morning. The final poll picture will emerge by afternoon as the battle lines clearly drawn. 

The scrutiny of the papers is crucial for Minister PK Jayalakshmi against whom the opposition raised complaints that her affidavit had discrepancies.  Candidates can withdraw their nominations until Monday and a final picture of who will be left there on the battlefront will be clear by then.

A total of 1,647 candidates including prominent faces from all the parties filed nomination papers across 140 constituencies on Friday.   Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Ramesh Chennithala and Minister K Babu from the ruling front and KB Ganesh Kumar, KC Joseph and Mani C Kappan from the Left Democratic Front (LDF) were among those who filed affidavits on Friday. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidates  O. Rajagopal and actor Bheeman Raghu also filed their nominations just before the deadline.

Malappuram received the maximum number of nomination papers, 204 and Wayand recorded the lowest with just 41. The campaign activities in the state are expected to gain momentum in the coming days. The voting will take place on May 16. 

• Kerala election 2016
• scrutiny of nominations