After Two-Year Delay, Jammu Kashmir Govt Sets Ball Rolling For Panchayat, Local Body Elections
The revision of the electoral rolls will begin on April 1 for a month in a bid to include new voters to the list.
Published : March 9, 2026 at 5:52 PM IST
Srinagar: After a two-year delay, Jammu and Kashmir is likely to hold panchayat and local bodies elections by this year as the State Election Commissioner of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) has directed the officials to conduct panchayat electoral revision for updation and inclusion of new voters in the electoral list.
The new State Election Commissioner of Jammu and Kashmir, Shantmanu, who was appointed on February 28 for a five-year term, held a meeting today with the senior officials from the Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Department and the all deputy commissioners of 20 districts. Officials said that the SEC reviewed revision of panchayat electoral roll-2026 and assessed progress on the delimitation of wards in urban local bodies.
The electoral roll revision alongwith the reservation of wards for Other Backward Classes population according to the recommendations of the report submitted by the Dedicated Backward Classes Commission will set the ball rolling for holding panchayat and local bodies poll in the union territory.
Official sources said the exercise for voter revision will likely begin by April 1 for a month, for including new voters, who will attain 18 years of age on April 1, 2026, into the list.
Jammu and Kashmir is without elected panchayat and municipal bodies as their terms ended on January 9, 2024 and in November and December 2023 respectively. District development councils (DDC) completed their five-year term on February 24 this year. Per the Department of Panchayat Raj, Jammu and Kashmir has 4291 Panchayats and 33597 panch wards. For towns and cities, the UT has two municipal corporations of Srinagar and Jammu and 79 municipal councils and municipal committees.
Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Javaid Ahmad Dar told ETV Bharat that elections will be held only after the commission completes its exercise of electoral roll revision exercise and the recommendations of the report submitted by the Dedicated Backward Classes Commission will be completed.
The Commission headed by Justice (Retired) Janak Raj Kotwal, comprising RK Bhagat, a retired IAS officer and Dr Mohinder Singh Bhadwal, former Dean SKUAST Jammu as it members submitted its submitted its final recommendations on 27 February last year to the chief secretary of the UT.
The commission has recommended reservation of panch and municipal wards to the OBCs according to their population in wards. However, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said in the recent assembly session that the Commission’s report, which is yet to be approved and notified, is under examination by the competent authority.
Regarding the utilisation of Panchayat Raj Institution (PRI) funds for the ongoing financial year, the minister said those funds will be utilised as per development plans decided by the gram sabhas in every panchayat.
In absence of the elected panchayat bodies, the LG administration had last year delegated administrative powers to the Block Development Officers, according to the Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Raj Act.
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