ZP, TP elections to be held by January, says Eshwar Khandre

Eshwar B. Khandre

Elections to the zilla and taluk panchayats in Karnataka will be held by January next year, with the State government committed to conducting rural local body polls, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Eshwar B. Khandre said on Saturday (October 31, 2026).

Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, Mr. Khandre said the government had issued a draft reservation notification for rural local bodies and was examining the objections received before issuing the final notification.

The deadline for submitting objections to the draft notification was October 19, and the government had received more than 2,000 objections. Officials were examining them in accordance with the rules, and the final notification would be issued shortly, he said.

Once the State government submits its proposal, the State Election Commission will initiate the process of conducting the elections. It will either obtain electoral rolls from the Election Commission of India or revise the electoral rolls already available with it for that purpose, he said.

“Elections to the taluk and zilla panchayats will most probably be held in the first or second week of January,” Mr. Khandre said, adding that elections to gram panchayats would be held after the completion of the zilla and taluk panchayat elections.

The Minister said the government would start accepting applications from November 2 for issuing e-swathu certificates to properties within gramathana limits, including those whose owners do not possess registered ownership documents. The initiative is expected to benefit an estimated 25–30 lakh rural property owners, he said.

“The government has amended the Karnataka Gram Swaraj and Panchayat Raj (Gram Panchayats Taxes, Rates and Fees) Rules to address long-pending issues faced by rural property owners. Changes have also been made to the e-swathu 2.0 software to facilitate the process,” he said.

Under the revised provisions, properties within gramathana limits that do not have registered documents can be considered for e-swathu certification based on electricity bills issued before April 7, 2025, along with physical verification of the property.

Mr. Khandre said the requirement for registered documents had been waived for such properties. However, applicants would have to furnish an undertaking that the information and ownership claims submitted by them were correct. The certificates could be cancelled subsequently if the information was found to be false or if valid legal disputes arose, he said.

The undertaking would also help address cases involving pending court disputes, disagreements over ownership shares or applications submitted by persons who were not the original owners.

The revised rules also allow people who had received housing scheme allotment documents from the government but had subsequently lost them to obtain e-swathu certificates by securing confirmation from the authority that issued the original allotment.

The government has also simplified the procedure for obtaining Form 11B, allowing rural residents to secure the document for buildings constructed on agricultural land for residential or agricultural purposes even if they do not possess registered documents.

The amended rules also cover buildings created under housing schemes on agricultural land and properties of traditional forest-dwelling communities that have received titles under the Forest Rights Act.