Kochi: The UDF government has informed the High Court that it can hold the local body elections November last week.
In an affidavit submitted to the court on Monday, the government said the ward delimitation process can be completed by October 17.
The elections can be conducted before November 24 and the votes can be counted on 28th.
The entire process can be completed in a schedule that will see new governing bodies come into power on December 1, the government said.
Earlier, in a major blow to the ruling UDF in the State, a division bench of the High Court had in an interim order rejected an appeal of the state government questioning an earlier Single Bench order that had cancelled the formation of 69 new panchayats and 4 new municipalities, which stood as an obstacle to hold the elections on time.
Upholding the Single Bench order, the Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice AM Shaffique observed that the responsibility of holding the local body election without delay is with the Election Commission.
The court had directed the government to extend its cooperation to the Election Commission to hold the election as per schedule.
As a result, the government held talks with the Election Commission and reached in a consensus to conduct the polls in November.