The keen triangular contest for the lone Lok Sabha seat of Ladakh on Monday recorded 67.15 per cent polling till 5 pm. The polling percentage was expected to increase when polling closes at 6 pm.
The Shia Muslim dominated Kargil district recorded 71.45 per cent polling till 5 pm against 62.5 per cent in the Buddhist majority Leh.
The Ladakh constituency had recorded 71.05 per cent polling in 2019, 71.40 per cent in 2014 and 73.52 per cent in 2004.
This is the first major election in Ladakh after it became a union territory after being split from Jammu and Kashmir on 5 August 2019 when the Article 370 was abrogated.
Candidates of the national parties, Tashi Gyalson (BJP) and Tsering Namgyal (Congress) are facing a stiff challenge from an independent and National Conference (NC) rebel Haji Hanifa Jan.
While Gyalson and Namgyal are Buddhists belonging to the Leh district, Jan is a Shia Muslim of Kargil which has turned the contest between the Leh and Kargil districts. The INDIA bloc had left the seat for the Congress to contest, but the NC rebel Jan also jumped in the fray.
Of the total number of 1.84 lakh voters in Ladakh, 95,926 are in the Kargil district and 88,877 in Leh.
The chief electoral officer of Ladakh, Yetindra M Maralkar was seen motivating the electorate to come out to cast their vote.
A large number of elderly women and men were seen at the polling booths. The Lt. Governor of Ladakh Brigadier (Dr) BD Mishra (Retd) and his wife Neelam Mishra cast their vote at Skara Yokma polling booth.
The Ladakh seat was won in 2019 by the BJP candidate Jamyang Namgyal, but he was denied the ticket this time. The Ladakh constituency is the largest in terms of an area of 1,73,266 square kilometres.