Ladakh will elect eight new hill councils in December. Its civic groups say winter will keep voters away

Ladakh will elect all eight of its new Autonomous Hill Development Councils on December 4. That is early in a Himalayan winter, and the region's two main civic coalitions say it is the wrong time to vote. Ladakh Chief Secretary Ashish Kundra announced the schedule on November 10: 100 constituencies across eight councils, nominations closing November 17, polling from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on December 4, and the whole process finished by December 8. The same day, Kargil and the newly created Sankoo district shut their markets and offices in protest. On November 11, Ladakh's Chief Electoral Officer banned political dharnas, protests and rallies in the towns of Leh and Kargil while the election code is in force. The Leh Apex Body had planned to start sit-ins against the December date the next day.

The dispute is about more than the calendar. The councils being elected are new: the administration has split Ladakh's two old districts into eight, nearly doubled the number of elected councillors from 52 to 100, and rewritten the law that sets out what the councils can do. The groups that have spent six years negotiating with the Union government for Statehood and constitutional protections say all of this was done without consulting them. The administration says the rules were followed and that delay would leave the new councils without time to write next year's budget.

The schedule and what is being elected#

State Election Commissioner Sudhanshu Pandey issued the notification on November 10. Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena called on all eight councils' constituencies to elect members. The hill council vote is the second of two elections in less than a month. Panchayat elections across the territory and municipal elections in Leh and Kargil are set for November 21.

The dates above come from the Ladakh administration's press release and the State Election Commission notification as reported by the Kashmir News Observer.

Before 2026, Ladakh had two hill councils, one for the Muslim-majority Kargil district and one for the Buddhist-majority Leh district, each with 26 elected seats. This year the administration created six more districts. Sankoo was declared the eighth district on October 16. Each district now gets its own council, and the 100 seats were notified on October 21 as follows.

Leh

22

Kargil

21

Sankoo

13

Changthang

10

Nubra

9

Sham

9

Zanskar

9

Drass

7

Source: The Hindu, Oct. 21, 2026, The New Indian Express, Oct. 21, 2026

Show the numbers

Council	Elected seats
Leh	22
Kargil	21
Sankoo	13
Changthang	10
Nubra	9
Sham	9
Zanskar	9
Drass	7

Saxena called it "a rational and fair apportionment that uses panchayat halqas and municipal wards as foundational units, giving due weight to both elector population and geographical area," The New Indian Express reported. Kundra said the delimitation "was undertaken in accordance with the prescribed rules." Neither his release nor the reports reviewed here give the number of voters in each new seat. So public sources do not show how evenly voters are spread across the 100 seats.

For the first time, 36 of the 100 seats are reserved for women, Kundra said. That is above the one-third share India's 2023 constitutional amendment promises for the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. That national quota is still tied to a delimitation fight we covered in our report on Parliament's record 88 days without prorogation.

Why the winter date is the flashpoint#

The opponents' central objection is that many Ladakhis will not be home on December 4. Sajjad Kargili is co-chairman of the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA). He said "around 20-30 per cent of Ladakh's population, including students, elderly people and businesspersons, migrate during winter to other areas," and called December "an unreasonable and unethical time for holding the elections," according to The New Indian Express. That percentage is his estimate. No official count of winter out-migration from Ladakh was found for this story, so it cannot be confirmed or ruled out.

Chering Dorjay is co-chairman of the Leh Apex Body (LAB); The Hindu spells his name Tsering Dorjey Lakrook. He said "no election has ever been held in Ladakh in December, as it is one of the coldest regions in the world," and that temperatures already sit 10 to 12 degrees below freezing in Nyoma. The LAB wants the vote moved to April or May. Ladakh's member of Parliament, Haji Haneefa Jan, wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah seeking a postponement. In a post on X he said older people had already started moving to warmer regions. Thousands of students, he said, would leave by late November and early December, and "snowfall and road closures will further restrict access to polling stations." He asked that the polls be held "preferably after May."

The administration's answer is practical. Kundra pointed out that December 15 is the last day of school in Ladakh, which falls after polling day. He said deputy commissioners have been told to provide heaters at polling stations and separate queues for senior citizens. He described the vote as "a festival of democracy" and urged young people, women, older residents, religious organizations and government employees to take part. His main argument for not waiting is the budget cycle: councils elected in December "would have January, February and March available for preparation of the budget for the next financial year," the administration's release says. Asked about the shutdown, he told reporters that "protests and shutdowns are symbolic" and that people in a democracy may express themselves through them, The Hindu reported.

Both sides' arguments have limits that the public record does not yet resolve. The opponents' case rests on how many voters leave, which is uncertain. The administration's case rests on the claim that a spring vote would cost the councils a budget cycle. Neither the release nor the reports explain why an interim setup could not cover the gap. One has run Kargil since its council was dissolved in October.

The protest ban#

Chief Electoral Officer Rahul Sharma's order applies to every party, candidate, worker and supporter, "or any other person." None may organize or join "any dharna, protest, demonstration, sit-in, hunger strike, rally or any similar form of collective political activity" within the municipal limits of Leh and Kargil while the Model Code of Conduct is in force, The New Indian Express reported. He cited Section 282 of the Jammu and Kashmir Municipal Act, 2000, and the municipal election rules. The order says such gatherings have "the potential to intimidate voters, disturb public order, and vitiate the atmosphere for free and fair elections," and tells the deputy commissioners and police chiefs of both districts to enforce it.

The order came a day after the LAB announced daily dharnas in Leh from November 12, and Dorjay said the KDA would hold similar sit-ins in Kargil. The order's text was not on an official site at the time of writing. Its length and exact reach are described here only as reported. It is also unclear from the reporting whether the LAB intends to go ahead with its sit-ins.

What the new councils can and cannot do#

The councils are being elected under the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (Amendment) Regulation, 2026. The Union Cabinet approved it on October 14, President Droupadi Murmu promulgated it on October 16, and Saxena notified it with effect from October 19, The Hindu reported. Saxena thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah for what he called a "landmark regulation."

The amendment lets the administration set each council's size between seven and 24 elected seats and nominate up to four members from women and unrepresented communities. The councils gain district-level panchayat powers, but their district plans must follow administrative guidelines and their by-laws need the administration's approval, according to The New Indian Express.

Critics read those approval requirements as a loss of autonomy. Gelek Phunchok, the LAB's convenor, said the change "might facilitate the creation of additional Hill Councils" but did not strengthen their powers over land, finance, recruitment, development planning and local regulations. "The powers of elected Hill Councils must be strengthened, not diluted," he said. Kargili said the Centre was "effectively changing the institutional framework" its talks with Ladakh's leaders were meant to address, "while giving UT administration greater control over the composition and functioning of the Councils."

Kundra rejected that reading on November 10. The new councils "would retain all powers vested in them under the existing law," he said. They would also "exercise the powers envisaged for the District Panchayat under the 73rd Constitutional Amendment." Draft Nautor land rules are meant to settle the status of people holding such land without proper titles. Kundra said they would be finalized "only after detailed consultations with the newly elected LAHDCs." The excise policy has drawn protests from women residents over new liquor outlets. He said it would be reviewed after the elections, since it cannot be changed while the election code applies.

Both descriptions can be partly true. A council can keep every power it held under the 1997 Act and gain panchayat functions while also facing new approval requirements on its plans and by-laws. Whether the net effect is more or less autonomy depends on how the administration uses its approval power, which has not yet been tested.

The talks behind the dispute#

The hill council fight sits on top of a larger stalemate. Ladakh became a Union Territory without a legislature in 2019. Since then the LAB in Leh and the KDA in Kargil have pressed the Home Ministry for Statehood and protection under the Constitution's Sixth Schedule. More recently they have sought safeguards under Article 371. Talks in Leh on October 15 ended without agreement after the two groups "categorically rejected" a 32-page Home Ministry draft, The Hindu reported. The regulation changing the councils was approved the next day. A follow-up meeting set for October 22 in New Delhi did not happen. The Hindu reported that the Centre decided not to resume talks "for unknown reasons." Dorjay said the missed meeting showed "the Centre was not sincere and was using delaying tactics." The Home Ministry has not publicly explained the cancellation in any source found for this story.

The backdrop also includes violence. On September 24, 2025, violence during protests in Leh left four people dead and about 80 injured. Dorjay, who describes it as "indiscriminate police firing," is demanding the release of a judicial inquiry commission's report on the events, The Hindu reported. That report has not been made public.

Asked about the stalled talks, Kundra said the Government of India and the Ladakh administration remain "committed towards strengthening democratic institutions and ensuring their early constitution."

The dispute has also borrowed the language of national politics. Kargili, speaking on the day of the shutdown, said: "In the country, CEC Gyanesh Kumar has been accused of stealing votes but Ladakh is such a place, where democracy and representation has been stolen." That is an argument by analogy. The national allegations he refers to are disputed and unproven, and the Chief Election Commissioner does not run Ladakh's local polls, which are conducted by its own State Election Commission. Our coverage of a separate vigilance inquiry involving Gyanesh Kumar in Keralam sets out what is and is not established about him.

Parties and the dissolved Kargil council#

The old Kargil council, elected in 2023, would have run until 2028. It was dissolved on October 21 after its chief executive councillor, three executive councillors and six other councillors resigned on October 20. Its powers passed to the Kargil deputy commissioner on an interim basis. In 2023 the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference won 12 seats and the Indian National Congress 10, running as allies, while the BJP and independents took two each, The Hindu reported. The same report puts the alliance's total at 24, two more than its party figures add up to, and does not explain the difference.

0

5

10

15

National Conference12

Congress10

BJP2

Independents2

National ConferenceCongressBJPIndependents

Source: The Hindu, Oct. 21, 2026

Show the numbers

Party	Seats
National Conference	12
Congress	10
BJP	2
Independents	2

The LAB and KDA have said they will stay neutral in the November 21 panchayat and municipal polls, neither backing nor opposing candidates, The New Indian Express reported. Congress leader and former Union minister Rigzin Jora called those polls "a referendum." In his view the choice is between an elected Assembly and the "present bureaucratic setup under the LG administration." No statement from the Bharatiya Janata Party, which governs at the Centre and won two Kargil seats in 2023, on the December date was found in the sources reviewed. Its national positions relative to Congress appear on India's party spectrum, which places the main national parties as dated editorial estimates. The territory's local blocs, the LAB and the KDA, are civic coalitions rather than parties and are not charted.

The opponents' own position has shifted. On November 9, Lakrook, who also chairs the Ladakh Buddhist Association, called the panchayat and municipal polls "a conspiracy" and demanded they be pushed to April or May. A day later he backed holding those polls, saying "it will empower people at grassroots level," while still opposing a December date for the hill councils.

Many local seats are already decided#

The November 21 local elections show how thin competition is in parts of Ladakh. Kundra said 55 of 192 sarpanch posts and 1,186 of 1,428 panch seats were filled unopposed, leaving 137 sarpanch contests. All 21 wards of the Leh Municipal Council will be contested, while four of Kargil's 17 wards have already elected representatives unopposed.

Figures are from the Ladakh administration's November 10 release. The last panchayat and municipal elections in Ladakh were held in 2018, when it was still part of Jammu and Kashmir. The release does not say why so many panch seats drew a single candidate. Possible explanations include village-level consensus, the neutrality of the main civic groups, and short campaign windows, but none of these has been established.

1. 2025-09-24Violence at Leh protests leaves four dead
2. 2026-10-14Union Cabinet approves hill council amendment
3. 2026-10-15Leh talks end; LAB and KDA reject Home Ministry draft
4. 2026-10-16Regulation promulgated; Sankoo declared eighth district
5. 2026-10-21Kargil council dissolved; 100 seats notified
6. 2026-10-22Planned Delhi talks do not take place
7. 2026-11-10Hill council poll set for Dec. 4; Kargil and Sankoo shut down
8. 2026-11-11Protests banned in Leh and Kargil municipal areas
9. 2026-11-21Panchayat and municipal polling
10. 2026-12-04Hill council polling in all eight districts

Source: The Hindu, The New Indian Express, Ladakh administration

What to watch#

Three questions will shape the next month. The first is whether Shah's ministry or the State Election Commission responds to the MP's request for a spring date; no response had been reported by November 11. The second is turnout on December 4, the first test of the winter-migration argument. Turnout alone will not separate the effect of absence from that of a boycott, if one is called. The third is whether the LAB and KDA field or back candidates for the councils or stay out, as they have for the panchayat and municipal polls. Their choice will decide whether the new councils start with the support of the groups that have spoken for Ladakh in its talks with New Delhi, or without it.

Differing perspectives

Should Ladakh hold elections to its eight new hill councils on December 4, or wait until spring?

Each position is summarized as its supporters make it, with equal weight and in alphabetical order. A summary is not an endorsement; the evidence for each is weighed in the story above.

• Hold the vote on December 4

  Who holds it: Ladakh administration: Chief Secretary Ashish Kundra and Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena

  The administration argues that Ladakh has gone years without elected panchayats and that eight new districts need working councils quickly. Councils elected in December would have January, February and March to prepare next year's budget. It says polling day falls before the last day of school on December 15, that polling stations will have heaters and separate queues for older voters, and that the delimitation followed the prescribed rules using population and existing panchayat and ward boundaries. It adds that the new councils keep all their existing powers and gain district panchayat powers.

  In their words: Administration of Union Territory of Ladakh ↗

• Move the vote to April or May

  Who holds it: Leh Apex Body, Kargil Democratic Alliance and Ladakh MP Haji Haneefa Jan

  Opponents argue that no Ladakh election has been held in December, when temperatures fall well below freezing and, by their estimate, 20 to 30 percent of residents, including students, older people and traders, leave for warmer places. Snowfall and road closures would make it harder to reach polling stations. They say a December vote would deprive a sizeable share of voters of their say in councils that will run the region for five years, and that a spring date would let every eligible voter take part.

  In their words: The New Indian Express (quoting LAB, KDA and MP Haneefa Jan) ↗

• Redo delimitation and restore council powers first

  Who holds it: Kargil Democratic Alliance leaders and the Leh Apex Body's convenor, Gelek Phunchok

  A third view goes beyond the date. These leaders argue that the October amendment changed the councils' size, powers and functioning without consulting Ladakhis while talks with the Home Ministry on constitutional safeguards were still under way. They say approval requirements on council plans and by-laws leave elected councils under the control of the Lieutenant Governor and senior officials, and that the new seat boundaries left some areas unhappy. They want the delimitation redone after consultation and stronger powers over land, finance and recruitment before councils are elected.

  In their words: The New Indian Express (quoting KDA and LAB leaders) ↗

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