In the first significant election after the abrogation of Article 370 by the BJP government and making Ladakh a union territory in 2019, the National Conference (NC) has emerged as the single largest party by winning 11 seats of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Kargil, in the ongoing counting of votes on Sunday.
The Congress has so far bagged 8 seats and the BJP 2. One seat has gone to an independent. Results of 21 out of the 26 seats have been declared so far.
The counting of votes for 5 seats is continuing. Sixteen seats are required to rule the LAHDC-K and the Congress and the NC have jointly touched the magic figure.
The counting of votes for the fifth LAHDC-Kargil election commenced at 8 am on Sunday morning. The election that took place on 4 October saw a triangular contest between the NC, the Congress, and the BJP in most of the 26 seats.
The Congress and NC had contested a couple of seats jointly. The NC was running the earlier LAHDC-K. The Congress has claimed that Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra across Ladakh on bike has resulted in the convincing performance of the party in these elections.
Rahul had also addressed a public meeting in Kargil before concluding his yatra in Ladakh last month. NC leader Omar Abdullah also addressed his party rallies before the elections. Several BJP leaders camped in Kargil for the election campaign.
The BJP has improved its tally in the Council as it had won only one seat in the previous LAHDC-K.
At least 77.61 per cent people voted for the Hill Development Council – out of the total 95,388 voters, 74,026 exercised their right of franchise.
According to officials, strict security arrangements have been put in place at and around the government Polytechnic College where the counting of the votes is being held.
The Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council has a total of 30 seats out of which elections were held on 26 seats, while four councillors with voting rights are nominated by the administration.
Feroz Ahmad Khan, chairman cum chief executive councillor of the LAHDC-K, has won from Silmoo constituency.
BJP candidates have won Cha and Stakchay-Khangral seats.
These elections earlier remained in controversy as the Ladakh administration refused to grant the plough symbol to the NC.
The elections had to be rescheduled after a snub from the Supreme Court when the administration finally issued a fresh election notification by reserving the “plough” symbol for the NC. The apex court also imposed a cost of Rs one lakh on the Ladakh administration.
Reacting to the trend of election results, PDP chief Mehbooba wrote on X: “Heartening to see secular parties like NC & Congress register their victory in Kargil. Its the first election post 2019 & people of Ladakh have spoken.”
Ghulam Ahmad Mir, a member of the CWC, wrote: “Kargil election verdict manifests the impact of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra.”