Jaipur, Sept. 23 -- The reservation lottery for Rajasthan's 2026 Panchayati Raj elections will be held on Wednesday, with reservations for 1,403 Zila Parishad members, 8,245 Panchayat Samiti members and 457 Pradhan posts to be determined at district headquarters across the state. The reservation process for 41 Zila Pramukh posts was completed on August 13. The lottery for Sarpanch and Ward Panch posts will be held at the sub-divisional level on September 24. Together, the two-day exercise will determine the reservation status of more than 150,000 Panchayati Raj posts. Women will account for 50% of the reservation, while seats will also be earmarked for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes. OBC reservation for Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti members and Pradhans will be determined based on the recommendations of the OBC Commission and the population distribution of the community. The elections are being held after a major delimitation exercise that has altered the geographical boundaries of Zila Parishads, Panchayat Samitis and Gram Panchayats, as well as their wards. The elections will therefore be the first to be conducted under the revised boundaries. The upcoming polls will cover 1,403 Zila Parishad members, 8,245 Panchayat Samiti members, 457 Pradhans, 14,403 Sarpanchs and 1,30,589 Ward Panchs - taking the total number of elected posts to more than 155,000. With the reservation lottery scheduled for September 23 and 24, the election programme for the Panchayati Raj institutions is likely to be announced around September 26. The state government has committed to completing the Panchayati Raj election process by November 15, 2026, in compliance with the Rajasthan High Court's directions....