Leh: Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) registered a convincing victory to form the fifth Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) in Leh displacing Congress from its pocket borough.
Top Congress leaders including incumbent CEC Rigzin Spalbar suffered heavy defeat at the hands of lesser known candidates this time.
The BJP bagged 18 seats in the 26-member Hill Council. The Congress that was leading the previous Council could retain just five seats while the Opposition National Conference (NC) won two seats. The BJP’s Dr Sonam Dawa who was elected from Thiksay constituency is the frontrunner for the Chief Executive Councilor’s (CEC) post that is equivalent to the rank of a cabinet minister. The outgoing CEC Rigzin Spalbar was defeated by his NC rival Sonam Wangdon from Lower Leh constituency.
The results are a major gain for the BJP in the region that campaigned on Congress’ downfall at the state and national level and convinced voters to side with the ruling party “for the development and uplift of the far-off region”.
The polls were significant as dozens of non-Ladakhi political leaders had converged in the area to woo voters. This indicated the prominence that sparsely populated Ladakh gained after the assembly and parliamentary polls. 65.17 percent voters had cast their votes for 90 candidates in the crucial elections held last week.
While the BJP and the Congress had fielded 25 candidates each, eight each candidates were fielded by PDP and the NC. The newly floated New Ladakh Movement (NLM) fielded 17 candidates but could not make any mark on the political turf. Even the much hyped leader of the party Sonam Wangchuk could not win his seat. Wanchuk was contesting from Khaltsie and lost to BJP candidate.
BJP registered victory in Tegar, Panamik, Tangtse, Chushul, Kungyam, Sakti, Igoo, Martselang, Thiksay, Chuchot, Upper Leh, Phyang, Sku-Markha, Saspol,Temisgam, Khaltse, Hundar and Skurbuchan council constituencies.
The Congress won Lamayouru, Lingshet, Bosgo, Nyoma and Korzok segments while the NC bagged Turtuk and Lower Leh segments and only one independent candidate Chering Angchuk emerged victorious winning Diskit segment. He defeated Tsewang Rigzin (NLM) who won from Diskit for two consecutive terms in the past.
The BJP campaigned vigorously in the district as its MPs Thupstan Chewang and Romesh Arora remained fixed to the campaigning schedule while J&K Minister for Cooperatives Chering Dorje skipped the budget session of the assembly for the council elections.
This is for the first time that BJP gained majority in the Leh district to lead the Hill Council. The BJP turned into a political force in the region after Ladakh Union Territory Front (LUTF) merged into the party six years ago. Senior BJP leader Dr Sonam Dawa is likely to become the new Chief Executive Councilor (CEC).
The JKPCC Chief Gulam Ahmad Mir had claimed that his party would regain the Leh fort and defeat BJP in the Ladakh region. Leh legislator and Congress Legislature Party leader Nawang Rigzin Jora, who also skipped budget session of the assembly to focus on the council elections, alleged that BJP misused the official machinery and spent money to woo voters.
Refuting the allegations Chewang and Arora said that Congress party was taking refuge under these allegations to hide its own follies.
The Congress has won three previous Hill Council elections while LUTF was at the helm of affairs once. In the last Council, Congress had 22 and BJP four seats. However, the BJP was upbeat this time after winning Lok Sabha seat from Ladakh for the first time with Thupstan Chhewang emerging the winner last year. In the Assembly elections that followed Parliamentary polls, Congress had won both seats of Leh district.
The NC’s win at two seats is significant as one of its candidates defeated the outgoing Congress CEC. Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had campaigned for his party candidates. The NC win is significant as ruling PDP could not register a win in the district.
Rangyul 