The Kerala Governor, Arif Mohammed Khan, has rejected the request from the Pinarayi Vijayan government to issue an ordinance for the establishment of a delimitation commission aimed at redrawing the boundaries and increasing the number of urban local body (ULB) wards in the state based on the 2011 census data.
Governor Khan cited the imposition of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) due to the ongoing Lok Sabha polls as the reason for his refusal. He emphasized that considering the ordinance without clearance from the Election Commission during this time would not be appropriate.
The delimitation of wards in Kerala, based on the 2011 census, was supposed to be carried out before 2013 but was not initiated by the previous Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government. The current government under Pinarayi Vijayan initiated the process for this exercise.
The last delimitation in Kerala was conducted based on data from the Social Economic Caste Census (SECC) of 2001. The state is scheduled to hold its next local body elections in 2025.
Following the Governor's refusal, it is anticipated that the Kerala government will introduce the proposal as a bill in the upcoming Assembly session. This move sets the stage for a political debate with the opposition on the floor of the house.
