Accuses UT Admn of being insensitive to stranded people of Ladakh
‘Hill Councils being rendered ineffective’
Nishikant Khajuria
JAMMU, May 3: In a major setback to Bharatiya Janata Party in Union Territory of Ladakh, the party’s first ever UT president, Chering Dorjay today announced his resignation from the top position as well as primary membership of BJP.
Dorjay, who was a Cabinet Minister in the PDP-BJP Coalition Government in the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir State, has alleged that the UT Administration was utterly insensitive towards pathetic condition of stranded people of Ladakh and was also rendering the autonomous Hill Councils of Leh as well as Kargil completely ineffective.
In his resignation letter, submitted to the BJP National president, J P Nadda and also released to press, Mr Dorjay has alleged: “Patriotic people of Ladakh, who have stood with armed forces in all the wars fought by our nation since 1948, are treated so shabbily and with disrespect by the UT administrators.”
While talking to the Excelsior, Dorjay said that he had taken up all the problems many times with BJP National Vice-President Avinash Rai Khanna, who is party Incharge for J&K and Ladakh Union Territories but there was no response on the issues highlighted by him.
“In view of the no response from party high command on my grievances, I had no option other than to resign from the party position as well as its primary membership,” he said and maintained that there was no question of taking back his resignation.
Chering Dorjay also claimed that J T Namgyal, BJP Member of Parliament representing Ladakh, was also aggrieved over the insensitive attitude of UT administration but there was no one to listen to him also.
Dorjay’s resignation has come within two months since his appointment as first ever BJP President for the Union Territory of Ladakh on March 5. Earlier, Ravinder Raina, BJP president for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir was also holding additional charge of Ladakh UT.
“I hereby submit my resignation from the post of president , BJP UT Ladakh and the primary membership of BJP in protest against the utter failure of UT Administration Ladakh in evacuating passengers, patients, pilgrims and students stranded at different places throughout India,” he said in the open letter to J P Nadda.
Dorjay, in his letter, further alleged that the UT Administration has rendered Autonomous Hill Council of Leh and Kargil completely ineffective by not allowing them to function as per the council Act.
“The people of Ladakh have sacrificed a lot to achieve the autonomous status for the two districts. I have expressed my doubts about these problems well in time to the party high command through video conferencing,” said Mr Dorjay, adding that he was pained to see the patriotic people of Ladakh being treated so shabbily and with disrespect by the UT Administrators.
Chering Dorjay, who started his political career from Indian National Congress and was elected on Congress ticket as MLA Leh in 1996, had joined Ladakh Union Territory Front in 2002 and worked as its president till he was sworn in as Chairman and Chief Executive Councillor of LAHDC Leh after the landslide victory to his party in the Council election in 2005.
Later, he joined BJP and remained President of the party in Leh from 2013 to 2015. He was elected as Member, Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Council from Leh in March, 2015 and was inducted as Minister of State in the PDP-BJP Coalition Government with independent charge of Cooperatives and Minister of State, Ladakh Affairs, J&K. Later he was inducted as Cabinet Minister and allocated with the portfolio, Ladakh Affairs and Cooperatives Department. He remained Cabinet Minister till collapse of PDP-BJP Government on June 19, 2018.
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