Leh/New Delhi, Nov 10 — Ladakh will elect all eight of its autonomous hill councils on December 4, after the Union Territory's State Election Commission and administration issued the formal election notifications on Tuesday, setting up a winter vote that local alliances are already protesting, IANS and the Kashmir News Observer (KNO) reported.

Source: IANS via Asia Post

State Election Commissioner Sudhanshu Pandey issued the schedule on November 10. The last date for filing nominations is November 17, scrutiny of papers will be held on November 18, candidates can withdraw until November 20, and polling, where required, will be held on December 4 between 8 am and 5 pm. The entire election process is to be completed by December 8, according to the notification reported by KNO.

Source: KNO via Asian Mail

Separately, the Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, exercising powers under Section 4(2) of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils Act, 1997, read with Rule 4 of the LAHDC (Election) Rules, 2026, called upon all constituencies of all LAHDCs to elect members for the new councils. The notification was issued by the Revenue Department of the UT Secretariat, Leh, and published in an extraordinary issue of The Ladakh Gazette, IANS reported.

From two councils to eight

Until now, LAHDCs existed only in Leh and Kargil. The new framework, created through the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (Amendment) Regulation, 2026 and government orders dated September 3 and October 16, extends a council to each of the UT's eight districts — Leh, Kargil, Drass, Sankoo, Sham, Changthang, Nubra and Zanskar. Delimitation has fixed 100 constituencies across the territory, with 33 per cent reservation for women, and each council will also have four members nominated from women and unrepresented communities, according to IANS.

Shutdown against a December vote

The announcement landed on a day Ladakh observed a near-complete shutdown against holding the elections in winter. In Kargil, shops and businesses stayed shut and traffic remained thin after a call by the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), an alliance of political and religious organisations, trade bodies and civil society groups, which also announced an evening candlelight march under the banner 'Save Democracy' and demanded both a postponement and a review of the delimitation exercise, Asian News Hub reported. Essential services, including medical facilities, water supply and school buses, were exempted, and additional police were deployed as a precaution.

Ladakh MP Mohmad Haneefa Jan has written to Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena asking that all local body and council elections be postponed until spring, warning that temperatures of minus 20 to minus 25 degrees Celsius, snowfall and road closures could keep voters in remote areas from reaching polling stations, Mirror Now reported. Leh Apex Body chairman Chering Dorjay likewise demanded the polls be deferred to April–May, along with a review of delimitation and a comprehensive revision of electoral rolls. The Ladakh Buddhist Association and Ladakh Gonpa Association have also opposed the winter schedule.

Sources: IANS, Kashmir News Observer (KNO), PTI and Mirror Now, reporting the State Election Commission, Ladakh notification and the November 10 shutdown.