Ladakh SEC puts draft delimitation plan in public, seeks feedback

SRINAGAR: The Ladakh State Election Commission on Friday issued separate notifications inviting objections and suggestions from the public and other stakeholders on the draft delimitation of constituencies for eight newly created Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (LAHDCs).

As per the eight notifications, objections and suggestions must be submitted to the respective deputy commissioners or block development officers by November 2.

The Commission has proposed to determine the boundaries of each constituency and invited public feedback on the draft proposals, prepared under the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (Election) Rules, 2026. The delimitation process will take into account geographical contiguity, compactness of areas, panchayat boundaries, comparability of elector populations and the seasonal inaccessibility of constituencies.


The exercise aims to finalise constituency boundaries for the eight newly constituted hill councils in Leh, Kargil, Changthang, Nubra, Drass, Zanskar, Sham and Sankoo, in accordance with the applicable election rules.

On October 21, Ladakh Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena notified 100 constituencies for the eight LAHDCs, nearly doubling the existing strength of 52 seats. Under the new structure notified through the LAHDC (Amendment) Regulation, 2026, Leh will have 22 constituencies, Kargil 21, Sankoo 13, Changthang 10, Nubra, Sham and Zanskar nine each, and Drass seven.

Meanwhile, the newly formed Drass district of Ladakh observed a complete shutdown over alleged injustice in the allocation of LAHDC seats. "The more unilateral decisions the UT administration imposes, the deeper public resentment grows. Today's complete shutdown in Drass district reflects people's anger over the alleged injustice in the allocation of LAHDC seats," said Sajjad Kargili of the Kargil Democratic Alliance. He said Ladakh cannot be governed by imposing decisions while ignoring the voices of its people. "Justice, equal representation and public consultation are essential for democracy," Kargili said.