New Delhi:

With the Congress winning several seats in the elections to the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Kargil, the party said it is a direct impact of Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh also took a swipe at the media saying “the national media will blank it out, but trends coming in show Congress leading convincingly in the elections to the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Kargil with an almost complete wipeout of the BJP.” 

“This is a direct impact of Rahul Gandhi continuing Bharat Jodo Yatra in Ladakh last month,” Mr Ramesh said in a post on X.

The national media of course will blank it out, but trends coming in show Congress leading convincingly in the elections to the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Kargil with an almost complete wipeout of the BJP. This is a direct impact of @RahulGandhi continuing…

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) October 8, 2023

The National Conference and Congress have together won 17 seats so far in the LAHDC polls with the counting of votes still underway, officials said on Sunday.

Of the 26 seats for which elections were held on October 4, results of 20 seats have been declared so far, they said.

According to the officials, the National Conference (NC) has so far won nine seats while its ally Congress registered victory in eight. The BJP has won two seats, while an independent candidate has registered victory in one seat, they said.

The election, which saw a triangular contest among the NC, Congress and the BJP in most of the 26 seats, is the first key poll in Kargil after the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019, and the creation of the Ladakh Union territory.

The NC and Congress had announced a pre-poll alliance but fielded 17 and 22 candidates, respectively. Both parties said the arrangement was restricted to areas where there was a tough contest with the BJP.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court today set aside the August 5 notification of the election department for the Ladakh hill council polls and directed the issuance of fresh notification within seven days for it.

A bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Ahsanuddin Amanullah also dismissed the plea by the Ladakh administration opposing the allotment of ‘plough’ symbol to the National Conference and imposed a cost of Rs 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 Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Kargil, on the party symbol.

The administration had approached a division bench of the high court against the single bench order of August 9 which directed the NC to approach the office of the Election Department of the administration of Ladakh to notify the reserved symbol ‘plough’ already allotted to for in the polls.

According to a notification issued by the election department on August 5, the polls for 26 seats of the 30-member LAHDC, Kargil, are scheduled for September 10 and the counting of votes will take place four days later.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)