In a jolt to the Pinarayi Vijayan-led Left government, Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Wednesday returned an ordinance to increase 1,200 wards.
The state cabinet passed the ordinance on May 20 to add one new ward in all the local bodies in the state.
Governor Khan and CM Vijayan for a long have been at loggerheads over various issues and have publicly taken on one another.
But this time the reason for the Governor to return the ordinance is the model code of conduct on account of the ongoing Lok Sabha polls.