E-Paper
Kargil local body polls on Oct 4: Admn issues fresh notification, reserves ‘plough’ symbol for NC
The voting for 30-seats hill council, earlier scheduled on September 10, will now take place on October 4; nominations shall be filed from September 9 to 16
After the Supreme Court passed an order, the Ladakh election department has issued a fresh notification, reserving the “plough” symbol for the National Conference for upcoming Kargil local body elections.
The Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council-Kargil (LAHDC-K) polls have been rescheduled to October 4.
Confirming to HT, chief electoral officer and general administration department secretary Yetindara M Maralkar of the Ladakh administration said two notifications were issued on Thursday regarding re-notification of the elections and allotment of plough symbol to the National Conference.
“In pursuance to the order of the Hon’ble Supreme Court dated 06/09/2023 in Civil Appeal No. 5707 of 2023 (SLP No. 18727 of 2023), the symbol “plough” is hereby reserved for the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference party for the ensuing elections to the 5th Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Kargil,” reads the notification.
The voting for 30-seats hill council, earlier scheduled on September 10, will now take place on October 4, he informed. Voting shall take place from 8 am to 4 pm on the day.
Nominations shall be filed from September 9 to 16. The last date for withdrawal of nominations is September 20.
It may be stated here that four members are nominated and 26 are elected to the council.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday had set aside the August 5 notification of the election department for the Ladakh hill council polls and directed for a fresh notification to be issued within seven days.
A bench comprising justices Vikram Nath and Ahsanuddin Amanullah had dismissed the plea by the Ladakh administration opposing the allotment of “plough” symbol to the National Conference and had imposed a cost of ₹1 lakh on it.
The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh high court had dismissed the Ladakh administration’s plea against a single bench order allowing NC candidates to contest the upcoming polls for the council on the party symbol.
The administration had then moved the Supreme Court, which upheld the high court’s decree.
Former chairperson of the previous Kargil hill council, Feroz Khan, a member of NC had claimed that Ladakh administration and BJP harboured malafide intentions against the NC.
A total of 17 NC candidates were in fray for September 10 polls.
BJP, Congress and AAP were given their respective party symbols for the elections.
