Ladakh administration gears up for panchayat, municipal elections

Kargil, Mar 10: The administration of union territory of Ladakh is gearing up to hold the Panchayat and Municipal elections which are likely to be held in April-May this year.

Panchayats and municipalities have already completed their five-year term in 2024. The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Ladakh, Yetindra M Maralkar chaired a meeting at his office chamber on Monday with the representatives of political parties. During the meeting, the CEO enquired about any issues and difficulties faced by the political parties with regard to the electoral rolls, engagement with BLOs, AEROs etc.

Ladakh has only two municipalities-one each in Leh and Kargil towns and 193 Panchayats-98 in Kargil and 95 in Leh. The twin municipalities have 13 wards each. Last elections to them were held in September-November 2018 when Ladakh was part of erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir. However, it became a separate Union Territory on August 5, 2019 after bifurcation of J&K on August 5, 2019.

As against three-tier system of Panchayati Raj in J&K, Ladakh has only two-tier system including Panchayats and Block Development Councils (BDCs). It does not have third tier i.e. the District Development Councils (DDCs) as Leh and Kargil already have Autonomous Hill Development Councils. The Panchayats completed their term in January 2024. This will be for the first time that Panchayat elections will be held in the Union Territory of Ladakh. After becoming the UT, Ladakh has witnessed elections to Autonomous Hill Development Councils of Leh and Kargil.