Elections to the Standing Committees of local self-government institutions across the state will be held from January 5 to 7, 2026, State Election Commissioner A. Shahjahan announced. Following the election of committee members, the election of Chairpersons will be conducted without delay by the respective Returning Officers.
In grama panchayats and block panchayats, four Standing Committees will be formed—Finance, Development, Welfare, and Health & Education. District panchayats will constitute five committees: Finance, Development, Public Works, Health & Education, and Welfare.
Municipalities will have six Standing Committees—Finance, Development, Welfare, Health, Public Works, and Education, Arts & Sports—while municipal corporations will form eight committees, including Finance, Development, Welfare, Health, Public Works, Town Planning, Tax Appeal, and Education & Sports.
The State Election Commission has assigned the responsibility of conducting Standing Committee elections in grama and block panchayats to the Returning Officers of the respective institutions. In district panchayats and corporations, the Additional District Magistrate (ADM) will act as the Returning Officer. Returning Officers for municipalities have also been notified.
Meetings to elect Standing Committee members will be held at the respective local bodies. Elected members will receive notice at least five days in advance, detailing the date, time, venue, and the deadline for submitting nominations. Notices for the election of Chairpersons will be issued two days prior to the meeting.
Candidates are permitted to submit self-nominations. Notably, one seat in every Standing Committee is reserved for women, and women’s reservation has also been specified for Chairperson posts, as notified by the Election Commission. Elections to women-reserved seats will be conducted first.
If the number of candidates exceeds the available seats, members will be elected through a single transferable vote system under proportional representation, with voting held among members present at the meeting.
