Thiruvananthapuram, Dec. 9 -- The voting for the two-phased local body elections in Kerala started on Tuesday morning. State Election Commissioner A Shajahan said the first phase of polling was underway in seven districts and described the process as "peaceful".

According to official data for the local body polls, as of 9 am, the voting percentage for the Thiruvananthapuram corporation remains at 7.7 per cent, followed by 7.9 per cent in Kollam, and nine per cent in Kochi.

The districts include Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Idukki and Ernakulam. The local body polls are being held in these districts across the three-tier panchayat system, including gram and block panchayats, municipalities, and corpora...