Ladakh Set for Big Fight as LAHDC Poll Campaigning Ends
SRINAGAR: Poll Campaigning of all 26 constituencies for the 5th general Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) Kargil in the Union Territory of Ladakh, concluded on Monday with top leadership of BJP, NC, and Congress making last-minute pitches for their parties.
LAHDC will go to polls on October 4 and counting will take place on October 8.
Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) is politically significant for all parties given elections are happening in Kargil for the first time since Article 370 was abrogated in August 2019.
The new council will be in place by October 11, while the existing council was headed by Feroz Khan.
A total of 95,388 voters, including 46,762 women, are eligible to exercise their franchise from 8 am to 4 pm on Wednesday to decide the electoral fate of 85 candidates in 26 seats of the 30-member hill council, according to election officials. Four councillors with voting rights are being nominated by the administration.
The NC-Congress alliance will be in direct contest with BJP. AAP is also contesting its first election in Kargil besides 25 are contesting as independent candidates.
Top leadership of NC, Congress, and BJP campaigned for their parties in the region to evoke response.
Union Minister of State for Culture and External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi campaigned for candidates of her party (BJP) in Kargil. She had also joined some candidates in filing nomination paper.
BJPs National General Secretary Tarun Chug also visited Kargil to campaign for party candidates. Apart from them Ashok Koul, general secretary (org) J&K and Ladakh also campaigned for his party. Ladakh MP Tsering Namgyal also joined his party to campaign for his party candidates.
Some top faces of BJP from Jammu and Kashmir were also sent to Kargil to campaign for party candidates.
From the Indian National Congress (INC), the only national leader to visit the region was Rahul Gandhi. During his visit, Rahul Gandhi addressed public gatherings and also held youth interaction programs. He has also assured them to be their representative in parliament sessions.
National Conference (NC) Vice President, Omar Abdullah the former Chief Minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir also campaigned for his party. He also visited Drass after addressing a gathering in Kargil. He was accompanied by Nasir Aslam Wani during his visit to address a public gathering at Choo Stadium.
In the last couple of weeks, parties along with their candidate held campaigns including road shows, door to door campaigns, and also organized multiple public outreach programs to persuade voters to vote in favor of them.
NC-Congress alliance is backed by the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), a group of senior political leaders in the region raising 4-point demands for the safeguarding of Ladakh.
