5-6 month delay likely in panchayat polls, K’taka tells HC

THe tell authorities on tues told the heights margaret court that gram panchayat polls in the state are likely to be delayed by five to six months due to pending preparatory processes, a day after the Karnataka assembly passed the Bill mandating use of paper ballots instead of electronic voting machines in local body elections,The delay affects elections across 5,950 gram panchayats, which have over 96,000 members collectively.According to the government’s submissions, it will take about four weeks to determine the total number of members based on updated population data, followed by a reservation process that could take at least three months before the final notification is issued.A bench headed by Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and justice C M Poonacha was hearing public interest petitions filed by the State Election Commission, which sought directions for timely elections to gram panchayats and 187 urban local bodies.The court recorded the government’s status report and adjourned the hearing to April 29.“The Karnataka State Delimitation Commission has begun the process of fixing the number of seats in each gram panchayat based on previous census data. On March 18, Deputy Commissioners were directed to submit required data within 15 days,” the government told the court. Officials indicated that it would take about two weeks to gather the data, one week for the commission to review and recommend, and another week for the government to finalise the total number of members, it added.Only after this exercise will the government proceed to assign reservations for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, backward classes and women -- a step it told the court would require at least three additional months.Progress on urban local body elections remains uneven. Of the 187 such bodies, ward delimitation has been completed in 167, while 21 are still pending.Draft reservation notifications have been issued for 23 bodies, with final notifications under review. Draft ward-wise reservation plans for 143 urban local bodies are also under examination.The developments in court come alongside the passage of the Karnataka Gram Swaraj and Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which mandates ballot-based voting for gram panchayat, taluk panchayat and zilla panchayat elections. The Bill was cleared after BJP and JD(S) members staged a walkout following a heated debate.Leader of Opposition R Ashoka had termed the Bill “retrograde” before tearing a copy and exiting the House.State rural development and panchayati raj minister Priyank Kharge had defended the move, saying, “There has been a big surge in turnout after 5pm in many States. There are discrepancies in votes polled and votes counted. The Election Commission of India has not satisfactorily answered the questions raised, prompting us to shift to ballot papers.”Opposition members criticised the decision as regressive and accused the government of undermining constitutional institutions.Senior BJP leader Suresh Kumar had said it was ironic for a government associated with technology to move away from electronic voting, while Ashok noted that the Congress had originally introduced EVMs.Kharge had responded that ballot-based voting continues in several places globally and in some local elections within India.