Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan has returned the ordinance seeking delimitation of wards in the state without signing it. Raj Bhavan cited the Model Code of Conduct for the Lok Sabha elections as the reason. Approval from the Election Commission is required to proceed with the ordinance, Raj Bhavan noted.

A special cabinet meeting held on Monday had approved the ordinance for ward delimitation based on population. The government's intention was to issue a notification following the Governor's approval of the draft accepted by the cabinet. If the Governor had approved the ordinance, a committee chaired by the State Election Commissioner would have been tasked with preparing the guidelines for ward delimitation.

Meanwhile, the opposition has criticised the government's decision on ward delimitation, calling it one-sided. The opposition leader warned that if the regime attempts to demonstrate its cunningness, they would challenge it legally.

Ward delimitation was supposed to be completed in 2015 based on the 2011 census, but it was carried out in only a few local bodies. In 2020, the ward delimitation process started but was abandoned due to COVID-19.