The people of Jammu and Kashmir, who have not had any Assembly representation since 2018, will cease to have any electoral representation at the grassroots level as well from January 9. The five-year term of almost 30,000 local representatives is set to expire on that date, and there is no clarity on when the next election for municipal bodies and panchayats will be held, as the Union government has decided to first conduct a delimitation exercise.
Panchayat elections were last held in the erstwhile State of J&K in late 2018. A total of 27,281 panches (panchayat members) and sarpanches (village headmen) were elected, and took oath on January 10, 2019. There are 12,776 vacant sarpanch and panch seats in J&K.
