Voting to be held for 26 seats
*Entire process to be completed before Oct 1
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, July 1: Election to 30-seat Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) Kargil will be held in first week of September and a notification for the voting is likely to be issued by the Election Authority in first week of August. New Council has to be in place before October 1, the day when the existing Council headed by National Conference leader Feroz Ahmed Khan, was constituted in 2018.
Official sources told the Excelsior that the Election Authority is in the process of finalizing arrangements for conduct of elections. However, there will be no delimitation and all 26 seats for which elections are to be held in Kargil district will have same jurisdiction as it was in 2018.
After series of reviews, the Election Authority is likely to announce the election schedule in first week of August while voting for all 26 seats is expected to be held in first week of September. The Authority might complete entire election process well before September 15 or 20 as new LAHDC Kargil has to be in place before October 1.
The LAHDC Kargil just like LAHDC Leh has 30 seats. However, election in both the Councils are held for 26 seats while four Councilors are nominated by the administration of the Union Territory of Ladakh with voting rights.
Majority mark in the Council is 16.
In the present Council, National Conference is single largest party with 10 seats followed by Congress eight, BJP seven and Independents five. The BJP had won only one seat in 2018 elections and PDP two. However, later both the PDP Councilors switched over to BJP and with all four nominated Councilors also affiliated with it, the BJP strength had risen to seven.
But National Conference leader Feroz Ahmed Khan, who had also served as a Minister in National Conference-Congress coalition Government of 2008, remained Chairman-cum-Chief Executive Councilor (CEC) of the LAHDC Kargil throughout its five-year term, initially with the support of Congress and later with the help of Independents and one BJP Councilor.
This will be sixth election to the LAHDC Kargil.
While LAHDC Leh came into existence in 1995, LAHDC Kargil was constituted in 2003. Both the Councils have five-year term.
LAHDC Leh is being ruled by the BJP for second consecutive term.
Both the Councils are headed by Chairman-cum-CEC who has the rank of Cabinet Minister of a State while there are four Executive Councilors in the rank of Deputy Ministers.
Election to the LAHDC Kargil could be interesting this time because of close coordination between National Conference and Congress, who are also part of Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) which along with Leh Apex Body (LAB) has been agitating for grant of Statehood and Sixth Schedule to Ladakh among other demands. The BJP, however, is not part of LAB and KDA.
The BJP is expected to go it alone in the LAHDC Kargil elections. The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) too has its cadre in some pockets of Kargil district. Over the years, the BJP has gained ground in parts of the district and leaders of some other parties have also joined the organization.
As per political observers, National Conference and Congress remained most dominant political forces in Kargil district and if they join hands like Kargil Democratic Alliance, they will be a real force to reckon with in the LAHDC elections.
Moreover, the observers opined, the demand for Statehood, Sixth Schedule, recruitment, PSC and two Parliamentary seats for Leh and Kargil being raised by LAB and KDA with the Union Home Ministry have also struck chord with the people.
However, the BJP leaders too are quite confident. They are of the view that Union Territory status was long pending demand of the people of Ladakh which was met by Narendra Modi Government on August 5, 2019.
“Ladakh got UT because of the BJP and whatever further required will also be given by the BJP-led Central Government. Therefore, majority of people will side with us,” a BJP leader asserted.
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