Postpone panchayat, municipal elections to April-May next year: Ladakh group

Several groups in Ladakh on Monday (November 9, 2026) demanded postponement of panchayat and municipal elections and alleged the authorities were up to some mischief in the region, which saw street agitation over the demands of Statehood and Sixth Schedule in the past six years. Meanwhile, a shutdown call has been issued in Kargil over the election.

“We suspect that this government is up to some mischief. We saw ‘vote chori’ in West Bengal, Bihar, Haryana, Maharashtra etc. In entire India 13 crore voters were dropped from the voter list. Ladakh is a small region and fraud is easy,” said Ladakh Buddhist Association (LBA) chairman Tsering Dorjey Lakrook.

Terming the upcoming panchayat and municipal elections as “conspiracy against people of Ladakh”, Mr. Lakrook, who is also co-chairman of the Leh Apex Body (LAB), said, “I warn people of Ladakh that these elections are a conspiracy. People of Ladakh should stay awake. We demand postponement of these elections. Let the authorities first frame the constituencies and hold the election in April-May next year,” said Mr. Lakrook.

The Lieutenant Governor administration of Ladakh last month dissolved the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC)-Kargil and announced panchayat and municipal elections on November 21 and the process shall be completed before November 30, officials said.

“The back-to-back elections are held in a hurry. These elections will see greater participation if held next year,” said Mr. Lakrook.

Meanwhile, Mr. Lakrook said there will be an agitation in the region and accused the Centre of taking the civil society groups, holding talks with it, “for granted”.

“In a few days, an agitation will be launched. We will show how much support we have. In the past, villages were cut off in the name of official functions and were later portrayed as poor participation in our programmes. This time, the agitation will sustain. We will have to struggle and be ready for sacrifices. I ask all to shun any sense of fear,” said Mr. Lakrook.

The Centre-Ladakh talks hit a wall in October this year after the Centre decided against the proposed meeting with the Ladakh civil society group in Delhi on October 22, days after a draft proposal on roadmap by the Centre was criticised by these groups.

In Kargil, the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), a conglomerate of socio-political groups, called for a “complete shutdown” across Kargil on November 10 in protest against the deferment of hill council elections.

“I urge the Lieutenant Governor and the State Election Commissioner (SEC) to consider Ladakh’s geographical and climatic conditions before scheduling polls. Elections in winter could deprive many people of their right to vote. I have also submitted written objections regarding the delimitation exercise,” said Ladakh Member of Parliament (MP) Haji Haneefa.

The KDA has called for a march to “Save Democracy” in Ladakh and appealed locals to respond positively to the call.