The way has now been cleared for holding elections of Panchayati Raj institutions and municipal bodies in Himachal Pradesh. The state government has withdrawn all the restrictions imposed under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 with immediate effect.
This decision has been taken after the order of the Supreme Court, due to which the process of elections which was postponed for a long time will now be able to move forward.
Elections were postponed citing connectivity problems
In the order issued by Chief Secretary Sanjay Gupta, it has been said that the notification issued on October 8, 2025, under which the electoral process was stopped citing connectivity problems in the state, has been cancelled. At that time the government said that it was difficult to conduct elections due to poor road and communication systems in many areas.
Now the government believes that the situation in the state has become much better than before and connectivity has also improved. Therefore, there was no concrete reason left to continue the ban under the Disaster Management Act. For this reason, the government has cleared the way for starting the election process.
Supreme Court sets new deadline
In fact, while hearing this case on 13 February 2026, the Supreme Court had given clear instructions that the State Election Commission, Panchayati Raj Department and Urban Development Department will have to complete all the pending processes related to the elections by 31 March 2026.
Along with this, the court said that the entire election process should be completed within eight weeks, that is, it will be mandatory to conduct the elections by May 31, 2026.
Amendment was also made in the order of the High Court
Earlier, while hearing the case of Dikkan Kumar Thakur vs Himachal State on January 9, 2026, the Himachal Pradesh High Court had given instructions to hold elections by April 30, 2026. However, later the Supreme Court changed this time limit and fixed the new last date as May 31, 2026.
orders sent to the administration
Copies of the order issued by the state government have been sent to the Secretary to the Governor, Secretary to the Chief Minister and all the District Deputy Commissioners, so that the further election process can be completed on time. The government says that now all necessary steps will be taken expeditiously towards holding elections.