LAHDC (Kargil) polls: Congress, and the National Conference fighting in alliance to keep the BJP out of power

In Ladakh for the first time since it was formed, elections are being held

October 4, 2023

(LAHDC)-Kargil polls: The first elections after the formation of the UT of Ladakh

The battlefield of the Kargil War Wednesday once again witnessed a close contest as a large number of first-time male and female voters accompanied by senior citizens lined up outside the polling booths to elect their own public representatives in the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC)-Kargil.

These elections are taking place for the first time after the formation of the Union Territory of Ladakh.

According to Shrikant Balasaheb Suse, Deputy Commissioner, Kargil, “a total number of 85 candidates are in the fray for the 26 hill development council seats. The 30-member council has 26 elected and four nominated members”.

According to election officials, there are over 95,000 voters, including 46,762 women, who are eligible to exercise their franchise.

The oldest voter from Kargil town Haji Ghulam Mohd Wednesday reached the polling station early morning to cast his vote and urged youths to take part in the election process to elect the right candidate for a better democracy

A first-time voter Ishtiyaq Aba from Goma Kargil expressed his joy for being a responsible Citizen of India and casting his 1st Vote.

Out of 85 candidates, the highest number of 25 independent candidates are in the fray. Both the National Conference and the Congress party have joined hands together to keep BJP out of the race.

In the outgoing council, while the NC had 10 members, the Congress had 8, and the Independents had 5. BJP had won only one seat.

This time BJP has fielded 17 candidates in the fray. On the other hand, 22 candidates from INC, 17 from NC, and four candidates from AAP are also contesting the maiden polls.

The election commission has set up 278 polling stations in the district to ensure incident-free and peaceful polling. However, 114 polling booths have been categorized as hyper-sensitive and 99 are sensitive polling stations in the district. Adequate security arrangements have been made to ensure peaceful voting.

The counting of votes will take place on October 8. According to the election commission, the new council will be formed before October 11.

High octane campaign

Before the polling day, the Kargil district witnessed month-long aggressive campaigning by different political parties and their star campaigners.

The opposition parties are projecting the elections as a referendum against the Centre’s decision to carve out Ladakh as a separate Union Territory from the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019.

To woo the voters on the ground the BJP relied on the Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi while BJP’s sitting MP from Ladakh Jamyang Tsering Namgyal highlighted the success of centrally sponsored schemes in Ladakh as well as the infrastructure push by the Centre after the formation of the Union Territory. The BJP leaders from the Jammu region were also camping in the region to support the local leaders.

In contrast to this, the National Conference and the Congress party ran a very aggressive campaign to expose the announcements made by the ruling dispensation.

Since both NC and INC are also part of the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) – an amalgam of political, social, religious and trade organisations they left no stone unturned to woo the voters and encash their anger against the ruling party at the centre.

After the formation of the Union Territory of Ladakh, KDA was constituted seeking statehood for Ladakh, constitutional safeguards under the Sixth Schedule and separate parliamentary seats for Leh and Kargil.

Why are common people dissatisfied and unhappy with the Centre?

The autonomous hill councils in both the Kargil and Leh districts are key to local governance and development.

After the formation of the Union Territory of Ladakh, the locals believed that the council had lost most of its powers and instead of utilizing developmental funds the same were lapsed as per the new arrangement.

Raise your voice through your ballot: Omar

In the last leg of the campaigning, former chief minister Omar Abdullah urged the voters to raise their voices by exercising their right to franchise. In his public speeches, Omar announced that the electors will decide if people have accepted or rejected the Centre’s decision to strip J&K of its statehood and special status under Article 370.

“This is the first time after August 5, 2019, that you are getting an opportunity to raise your voice,” said Omar Abdullah.

“You can send a clear message through your vote whether you accept or reject the decisions of 5th August 2019,” Abdullah told an election rally in Kargil.

Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.

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