Ladakh issues new notification for hill council polls, after SC verdict

The Ladakh administration has announced a new schedule for elections to the fifth Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) in the Kargil region, following a directive by the Supreme Court.

As per the notification, elections to 26 seats of the 30-member LAHDC will be held on October 4. The LAHDC Kargil had come into effect in 2003.

As per the previous notification the Union Territory of Ladakh had announced that elections to the LAHDC was scheduled to be held on September 10 and counting to be held on September 14.

According to the new notification, the process for filing nominations will start on September 9 and the last date for filing nominations is September 16. The last date for withdrawing nominations has been fixed on September 20, it said.

Counting of votes will take place on October 8.

"Voting will be held between 8 am to 4 pm," it said.

The notification further said that the entire election process should be completed before October 11.

The Supreme Court Wednesday set aside the August 2 notification issued by the Ladakh administration for elections to LAHDC and directed that a fresh notification be issued within seven days.

The bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Ahsanuddin Amanulla imposed a cost of Rs 1 lakh on the Ladakh administration and also dismissed its appeal against an August 14 order of a division bench of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court which had upheld an interim order by a single-judge bench for grant of the 'Plough' poll symbol to the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC).

It "declared" that the JKNC is "entitled to the exclusive allotment of the plough symbol for candidates proposed to be put up by it".

The Election Department of Ladakh, in an order issued on Thursday, said, "In pursuance to the order of Supreme Court, the symbol 'Plough' is hereby reserved for the J-K National Conference Party for the ensuing elections to the 5th Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Kargil."

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah called upon party workers and leaders to be prepared for the polls.

"Jammu and Kashmir National Conference Party colleagues can begin preparations for the electoral battle in right earnest," Omar Abdullah said in a post on X.

The Model Code of Conduct shall come into force from the date of publication of the notification in the official e-gazette of the Union Territory of Ladakh and shall remain in force till such time the election process is completed. The code of conduct will be applicable for the entire Kargil District.