THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: State Election Commissioner A Shahjahan has ordered the disqualification of 9016 candidates who contested in the 2020 local elections due to non-declaration of campaign expenses. These candidates will be ineligible for five years.

None of the current members is included in this. If any of the current members were on this list, he would have lost his membership. As the disqualification is applicable till August 23, 2027, the disqualified candidates will not be able to contest in the next local body elections.

The names of the disqualified candidates have been published on the sec.kerala.gov.in site.

Elections were held in December 2020 for 21865 wards, excluding Mattannur Municipality. A total of 74835 candidates contested. Election Commission disqualified those who did not declare the expenses despite repeated requests. Although some people had declared their expenses, it was found that they had spent more than the expenditure limit. They were also disqualified.