Amid escalating worries of an open revolt against the party high command’s decision, Ladakh unit of the National Conference (NC) is exerting pressure on the Congress party to nominate the joint candidate of two alliance partners for lone Ladakh Lok Sabha seat from Kargil district only, if the grand-old party really intends to avoid division of votes in the region.
For this, the leaders of National Conference and Congress—two key players in Ladakh politics have held several rounds of parleys to reach a consensus but no breakthrough is achieved as yet. While Congress party is contemplating to field its senior leader and former minister, Nawang Rigzin Jora from the seat, the NC leaders in Kargil feel any decision to field a Buddhist candidate from Leh would prove counter-productive and it will cost them heavily in Lok Sabha polls.
A senior NC leader in Kargil told The Gaon Tribune, “We have had several rounds of meetings (both physical and virtual) with Congress leaders based in Leh and Kargil to convince them that they should field the joint candidate of INDIA bloc in Ladakh from Kargil district only, if they are really intended to win the seat easily”.
The leader said they were facing difficulties in convincing their own cadre and workers over the party high command’s unilateral decision of allocating the lone Lok Sabha seat to the Congress.
“Our leaders, activists and workers in Kargil and Leh districts are miffed over the decision of the party’s top leadership to leave Ladakh seat for Congress. The decision was taken unilaterally and in haste without taking us into confidence. It will have serious repercussions at grassroots level for the party (NC),” the leader said.
On April 8, the NC’s vice president Omar Abdullah and senior leadership of the Congress party unveiled the seat-sharing agreement for six parliamentary seats in J&K and Ladakh which was finalised after consultations between the Congress and NC leaders in New Delhi.
As per the seat-sharing formula, the National Conference would contest Anantnag-Rajouri, Central Kashmir (Srinagar) and North Kashmir (Baramulla). Similarly, the Congress has been allocated three seats, including Jammu-Reasi, Kathua-Udhampur-Doda and Ladakh.
The senior NC leader further said, “In October last year, we emerged as the single largest political party in the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) Kargil by bagging 12 seats out of a total 17 on which it fielded its candidates while the Congress stood second with 10 seats. We have further consolidated our position in the district after the newly formed Council-led NC has taken several pro-people decisions”.
He added, “The alliance arrangement will badly affect the party’s base in Ladakh, while Congress, which was slowly its base in the region, will surely get strengthened with this decision. For us, the Parliament is the only platform to raise the genuine issues of the people of Ladakh—a Union Territory without legislature”.
The leader added, “Had this seat been allocated to the National Conference, we would have won it easily without the support of any political party (referring to the Congress) in the wake of current political scenario in Ladakh. Any adverse decision on the part of Congress to our request will prove counter-productive. We will have to take a tough call to ensure that the BJP doesn’t make further inroads in Kargil district”.
On Friday, the Election Commission of India issued a notification for conduct of polling on Ladakh seat. As per the notification, the candidates can file their nomination papers till May 3, while the last day of withdrawing their nominations is May 6. The polling on the seat will take place on May 20.
The alliance between Congress and NC has also escalated the worries of the BJP which has been facing tough times in the region due to protests and hunger strikes launched by the people of Ladakh in favour of two major demands—Statehood to Ladakh and its inclusion in the Sixth Schedule. In an apparent bid to regain some ground in Ladakh, the BJP has replaced the sitting Member of Parliament Jamyang Tsering Namgyal with chief executive councilor of Leh Council Tashi Gyalson for Ladakh seat which has further deepened the worries of the saffron party as Namgyal has announced “to determine next course of action soon”.
The BJP won the Ladakh Parliamentary seat for two successive Lok Sabha elections. In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, veteran politician Thupstan Chhewang had won this seat as BJP candidate by a margin of only 36 votes. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP candidate Jamyang Tsering Namgyal, who was then sitting Chairman-cum-CEC of LAHDC Leh recorded an impressive victory margin.
