The Karnataka government has fixed 46 Zilla Panchayat and 163 Taluk Panchayat elected seats in Mysuru district, setting out the structure and reservation pattern for the local bodies as preparations for Panchayat Raj elections begin to take shape.
According to a notification issued on Wednesday and reported by Prajavani, the number of Zilla Panchayat seats has been reduced from 53 to 46. At the same time, Taluk Panchayat seats have increased from 144 to 163, with the positions designated as single-member constituencies.
The notification follows an earlier draft delimitation proposal that had listed 46 Zilla Panchayat and 160 Taluk Panchayat seats. The draft had invited objections before the government issued the latest notification. The change in the Taluk Panchayat figure means that three additional seats have been included in the final arrangement compared with the draft proposal.
The Zilla Panchayat distribution varies across Mysuru district’s taluks. Mysuru, Tirumakudalu Narasipura, Hunsur and Periyapatna taluks have been assigned six Zilla Panchayat constituencies each. Nanjangud has nine, Krishnarajanagar has three, and Saligrama and H.D. Kote have four each. Saragur taluk has been assigned two Zilla Panchayat constituencies.
The notification also sets out the reservation pattern. Of the 46 Zilla Panchayat seats, 23 have been reserved for women. Another 23 seats have been classified as general seats, of which 11 are reserved for women. At the Taluk Panchayat level, 84 of the 163 seats have been reserved for women.
The latest order comes against the backdrop of a long gap in elected representation at the Zilla Panchayat level. The terms of the elected representatives ended in 2021. The government has also cancelled earlier reservation notifications and officially published a new reservation list as part of the current exercise.
The seat structure has changed several times over the past two decades. Mysuru previously had 46 Zilla Panchayat constituencies, but three seats were later added, taking the total to 49. Four more seats were added in 2021. At the Taluk Panchayat level, the number of seats had earlier been reduced from 187 to 144 before the latest increase to 163.
The final delimitation and reservation notification does not, by itself, announce the election schedule. However, the notification and the completion of the seat and reservation exercise provide the administrative framework required before elections can be held. Political circles have interpreted the move as the beginning of preparations for elections to the Panchayat Raj institutions.
