06-09-2023 : Omar Abdullah, a prominent leader of the National Conference (NC), expressed his satisfaction and welcomed the recent Supreme Court verdict regarding the allotment of the “plough” symbol to his party. He asserted that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Ladakh administration had made every effort to obstruct their rightful claim to the symbol, but the court saw through these attempts.
In a tweet, Omar Abdullah joyfully announced, “@JKNC_ got the verdict we wanted & deserved. Our symbol, the plough, has been given to us by the Hon Supreme Court earlier this morning.” He went on to accuse the BJP and the Ladakh administration of actively working against the NC’s interests, stating, “The BJP, ably assisted by a totally biased Ladakh administration, did everything possible to deny us our right.” However, he expressed gratitude to the court for recognizing these actions and imposing a fine of ₹1 lakh on the administration as a penalty.
.@JKNC_ got the verdict we wanted & deserved. Our symbol, the plough, has been given to us by the Hon Supreme Court earlier this morning. The BJP, ably assisted by a totally biased Ladakh administration, did everything possible to deny us our right. The court saw through this &…
— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) September 6, 2023
The Supreme Court’s ruling on this matter set aside the August 5 notification issued by the election department for the Ladakh hill council polls. The court directed the issuance of a fresh notification within seven days. The bench, comprised of Justices Vikram Nath and Ahsanuddin Amanullah, also rejected the Ladakh administration’s objection to the allocation of the “plough” symbol to the NC and imposed a ₹1 lakh fine on the administration for its stance.
Previously, the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court had dismissed the Ladakh administration’s plea against a single bench order that allowed NC candidates to contest the upcoming polls for the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Kargil, using the party symbol. The administration had subsequently approached a division bench of the high court to challenge the single bench order of August 9. This order directed the NC to approach the Election Department of Ladakh to officially notify the reserved symbol, the “plough,” which had already been allotted for the polls.
The election department had previously announced that the polls for 26 out of the 30 seats in the LAHDC, Kargil, were scheduled for September 10, with vote counting to occur four days later.