LAHDC-Kargil polls victory a vote against abrogation of Article 370: Congress, NC

The National Conference (NC) and the Congress on Monday (October 9) described their sweeping win in the LAHDC-Kargil elections as a vote against the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir.

The NC and the Congress together won 22 of the 26 seats in the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC)-Kargil elections. The results were declared on Sunday.

The election was the first poll to be held after Ladakh was carved out as a Union Territory following the August 2019 abrogation of Article 370, which applied to Jammu and Kashmir.

“This is definitely a referendum, the people of Kargil fought on this issue… Our first demand is the restoration of the democratic system in Ladakh,” NC leader Hanifa Jan told PTI.

“It is up to the government how they will do that – whether they will give a full-fledged statehood to Ladakh. If they cannot do that, then restore our position (with Jammu-Kashmir),” Jan said.

Ladakh verdict

Jan said the people of Kargil want to get out of the “bureaucratic slavery” under the Lt Governor’s administration.

“What the government of India did was totally wrong, it was a betrayal, they took the decision without consulting us. So, this result is a total referendum against those decisions,” the NC leader said.

Twenty-six seats of the council went to polls on October 4. The administration nominates four members with voting rights to the 30-member council.

Of the 26 council seats that went saw balloting, the NC won 12 while its ally Congress won 10 seats. The BJP won two seats and two seats went to independent candidates.

“The alliance won 22 seats, two were won by independents who are ideologically inclined towards us. The BJP won two, one of which they won because of our negligence. So, we won 24 seats effectively,” Jan said.

“The whole district has spoken against the decisions taken in August 2019 and snatching of democracy from us and pushing us into the bureaucratic system,” he added.

Lok Sabha battle

Congress leader Issa Ali Shah said the people of Kargil have always been against the abrogation of Article 370 and the results signified that.

“There is no role of the BJP in Kargil. People here are against the decision of 2019. The common people do not want separation. We want to be together with Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.

Jan said the NC-Congress alliance will continue for the Lok Sabha battle too.

“We want a secular candidate to contest the (general) elections and win because the current MP is a communal person who is only parroting the agenda of the BJP-RSS and is doing nothing for the people of Ladakh.”

The NC and the Congress had a pre-poll alliance but fielded 17 and 22 candidates respectively. They said the arrangement was restricted to areas where there was a tough contest with the BJP.

The NC and the Congress had a pre-poll alliance but fielded 17 and 22 candidates respectively. They said the arrangement was restricted to areas where there was a tough contest with the BJP.

(With agency inputs)