The Karnataka state government has informed the high court that gram panchayat polls in the state are likely to be delayed by five to six months due to pending preparatory processes.
The delay affects elections across 5,950 gram panchayats, which have over 96,000 members collectively.
The government's submissions stated that 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.
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.
Progress on urban local body elections remains uneven, with ward delimitation completed in 167 out of 187 such bodies.
The government has passed the Karnataka Gram Swaraj and Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which mandates ballot-based voting for gram panchayat, taluk panchayat, and zilla panchayat elections.
