NEW DELHI: Following a directive from the Supreme Court, the Ladakh administration has set a new schedule for elections to the fifth Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) in the Kargil region. Elections for 26 seats in the 30-member LAHDC will take place on October 4 in accordance with the announcement. In 2003, the LAHDC Kargil went into effect. The Union Territory of Ladakh had already stated that the LAHDC elections will take place on September 10 and the counting would take place on September 14. The process for submitting nominations will begin on September 9 and end on September 16 according to the latest announcement. The deadline for withdrawing nominations has been set on September 20, according to the statement. On October 8, the votes will be tallied. Voting would take place from 8 am to 4 pm, it stated. The notification further said that all voting must be finished by October 11th. The Ladakh administration’s notification of the election for the LAHDC from August 2 was invalidated by the Supreme Court on Wednesday. A new notification must be issued within seven days.The Ladakh administration’s 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), was dismissed by the bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Ahsanuddin Amanulla. The JKNC is “entitled to the exclusive allotment of the plough symbol for candidates proposed to be put up by it,” according to the “declaration.” The J&K National Conference Party is officially reserved the symbol “Plough” for the upcoming elections to the 5th Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Kargil, according to an order from the Ladakh Election Department that was published on Thursday. Omar Abdullah, the leader of the National Conference, urged party members and officials to get ready for the election. Omar Abdullah wrote on X, “Jammu and Kashmir National Conference Party colleagues can begin planning for the election battle in right earnest.”The Model Code of Conduct shall be in effect as of the date the notification is published in the Union Territory of Ladakh’s official online gazette and shall continue to be in effect until the conclusion of the election process. The entire Kargil District will be covered under the code of conduct.
