SRINAGAR: As Kargil and Sankoo districts in Ladakh Union Territory are observing a shutdown today against holding Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (LAHDCs) elections in winter, the Ladakh UT administration on Tuesday announced that elections for Hill Councils would be held on December 4, 2026.
Ladakh Lt Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena today issued a notification calling upon all constituencies of the eight LAHDCs to elect members for the constitution of new Councils.
The State Election Commission (SEC) Ladakh announced the poll schedule for Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (LAHDCs) in the Union Territory.
Since there are eight districts in the cold desert, the elections would be held for all the eight LAHDCs.
As per the poll schedule, the election process will begin with the filing of nominations and the last date for filing of nominations is November 17, 2026.
The scrutiny of nominations will be held on November 18 while the last date for withdrawal of candidature is November 20.
The polling for the LAHDC elections will be held on December 4 from 8 am to 5 pm and the entire election process shall be completed by December 8, 2026.
The poll schedule was announced after the administration finalized and notified the delimitation of 100 elected constituencies across eight LAHDCs under the LAHDC (Amendment) Regulation, 2026, increasing the total number of councilors from 52 to 100.
The announcement of poll dates has come when people in Kargil and Sankoo districts of Ladakh are observing a shutdown to protest against holding of Hill council polls during the harsh winter, when temperature stays many degrees below freezing point.
The Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) co-chairman Sajjad Kargili has opposed holding of Hill Council elections in December, saying around 20-30 per cent of Ladakh’s population, including students, elderly people and businesspersons, migrate during winter to other areas.
“December is an unreasonable and unethical time for holding the elections,” he said.
Ladakh MP Haneefa Jan had requested the Lieutenant Governor and the State Election Commission not to hold the Hill Council elections in December due to harsh climatic conditions.
“No election in Ladakh has been held during winter and holding the hill council polls in December could deprive a sizable section of the population of the right to vote,” he said.
“If the government wants the democratic setup to be in place, every voter must get an opportunity to vote and elect their representative,” the MP has said.
It now remains to be seen what stand the KDA and Leh Apex Body (LAB), which are spearheading agitation for constitutional safeguards under Article 371 and UT-level election body in the cold desert, take on the announcement of the Hill Council polls.