Kerala local body polls: Standing committees to be elected from Jan 5–7

State Election Commissioner A Shajahan on Sunday announced that elections to the standing committees of local self-government institutions will be held from January 5 to 7, 2026. The polls will be conducted in local bodies where the chairperson and vice-chairperson have already been elected following the general elections. The election of committee chairpersons will follow soon after the members are finalised and will be conducted by the respective returning officers.

Grama and block panchayats will constitute four standing committees—Finance, Development, Welfare, and Health and Education. District panchayats will have five: Finance, Development, Public Works, Health and Education, and Welfare.

Meanwhile, municipalities are required to form six standing committees—Finance, Development, Welfare, Health, Public Works, and Education, Arts and Sports—while corporations will have eight: Finance, Development, Welfare, Health, Public Works, Urban Planning, Tax, and Education and Sports.

The Election Commission has designated the respective institutional returning officers to conduct elections to standing committee memberships and chairperson posts in grama and block panchayats. In district panchayats and corporations, the Additional District Magistrate (ADM) will act as the returning officer. The Commission has also notified returning officers for municipalities.

Meetings to elect standing committee members will be held at the concerned local bodies. Returning officers will issue notices detailing the venue, date and time at least five days in advance, along with the deadline for submitting nominations. Notices for meetings to elect committee chairpersons will be issued at least two days in advance to members of the respective committees.

Members may file nominations for standing committee elections on their own, without the need for proposers or seconders. No specific nomination forms have been prescribed.

One seat in each standing committee, including the Finance Committee, is reserved for women, and only women members are eligible to contest these positions. The Commission has also notified reservations for women in the posts of committee chairpersons. Elections to women-reserved seats will be held first, followed by elections to the remaining positions.

If the number of candidates exceeds the available vacancies, elections will be conducted through proportional representation using a single transferable vote (preferential voting) among members present at the meeting.