The administration of the Union territory of Ladakh has decided to hold elections to the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LADHC) on October 16.
According to the notification issued by Saugat Biswas, secretary of election department of Ladakh, the election to all 26 constituencies of the Council in the two districts of Leh and Kargil will be held simultaneously and the results will be declared on October 22.
The decision to hold elections has been taken despite calls for postponement of the polls by the opposition due to tension with China.
This will be the first council elections after the cold desert was declared a Union territory after being separated from Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019.
Earlier, the council enjoyed financial powers and carried out developmental works in the region.
However, after the region became a Union territory, all powers rest with the lieutenant governor and the Centre.
While the Buddhist-majority Leh had welcomed the conferring of Union territory status to Ladakh, the Muslim-majority Kargil region had opposed the move.
A year after Ladakh became a Union territory, many Buddhists leaders, including those from the BJP, in Leh have voiced concern about lack of constitutional protection to the unique identity of the region. The leaders have expressed fears of demographic change due to the possible influx of outsiders.
They have demanded that the Centre protect the unique identity of people of Ladakh like those of the tribal groups under the 6th Schedule.
They have also demanded that the Council should have financial and legal powers.
Most people in Kargil are not happy with the Union territory status. They believe the move has disempowered them.
Sajad Kargili, who had unsuccessfully contested election in the past in Kargil, said when Ladakh was part of Jammu and Kashmir, their region had representation in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly and also sent one MP to the Lok Sabha.
“All the parties would woo the people of Ladakh to get their candidates elected,” Kargili said. “The elected members would represent the aspirations of people of Kargil and Leh in Assembly and ensure development. But now all that is gone and everything is controlled by Delhi.”
