SRINAGAR: Amid a prolonged vacuum in grassroots governance in Jammu and Kashmir, the State Election Commission has completed the annual revision of Panchayat electoral rolls, taking the total electorate to 72.24 lakh with the addition of 3.39 lakh new voters and deletion of 1.13 lakh names from the rolls.
The comprehensive exercise, which began with release of draft electoral roll on March 27, 2026, has now formally culminated following a structured schedule of claims, objections and verification, an official spokesman said.
The voter count after revision of Panchayat electoral rolls has crossed 72.24 lakhs. A total of 3,39,384 new voters were added to the rolls. At least 1,13,344 names were deleted due to death, shifting, duplication, and other admissible reasons.
An official spokesman said the final roll now stands at 72,24,131 electors, which includes 36,62,502 male, 35,61,488 female, and 141 third gender voters.
This marks a net increase of 2,26,040 voters compared to the previous revision concluded in January 2025, when the rolls listed 69,98,091 voters with January 1, 2025 as the qualifying date.
“The State Election Commission had opened a 40-day window for filing claims and objections from March 27 to May 5, 2026. All submissions received during this period were examined and disposed of by Electoral Registration Officers by May 14, 2026,” the official spokesman said.
Jammu and Kashmir is presently without all three tiers of local governance system including panchayats, ULBs and DDCs.
The term of municipalities ended in October-November 2023 and Panchayats completed their five year tenure on January 9, 2024. The BDCs ceased to exist automatically after the five-year tenure of the Panchayats ended.
The five-year term of DDCs ended in February this year.
With over 4,200 Panchayats and nearly 80 Urban Local Bodies, including corporations in Jammu and Srinagar, and 20 DDCs currently non-functional, the absence of elected representatives has raised concerns about grassroots governance.
