Updated: October 27, 2020 7:02:42 am
The BJP, however, swept the Nubra Valley, winning all five districts here.
A year after Ladakh was granted Union Territory status, the BJP returned to power in the Ladakh Autonomous Development Council, albeit with a narrow margin.
The election, which the PPD and the National Conference boycotted, saw the BJP winning just 15 out of 26 seats (five fewer than its count in the last Council) while Congress, which had only six members in the last Council, emerged victorious in nine. places, snatching Lower and Upper Leh in Leh city from the BJP. The two remaining seats were won by independents.
When the final tally emerged in the evening, the mood on the BJP field turned bleak as the elections were seen as a prestigious battle for the party, which had aimed for a clean sweep with its “Abki Baar Chhabis Paar” motto. electoral. Almost half a dozen Union ministers, including Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Minister of State for the Interior G Kishan Reddy, Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur and Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rjijiu, as well as senior party leaders like Ram Madhav and Arun Singh, had visited the hill district to campaign among an electorate of less than one lakh.
Read also | 65% voting in Leh Hill development council elections
Even the main leaders of the J&K party, including the general secretary (organization) Ashok Koul, had stayed in Leh to supervise the campaign.
One of the most notorious losses for the BJP was that of Sakti, where Gyal P Wangyal, who was Chief Executive Councilor of the last Hill Council, lost to Rigzin Tsering from Congress.
The BJP, however, swept the Nubra Valley, winning all five districts here. Chushul and Neoma in Eastern Lakakh, where India and China are in a confrontational position, went to independent candidates.
When the results came out, high-level leaders of the BJP, including Jamiyang Namgiyal, the only MP from Ladakh, rallied.
Read also | After meeting with Shah, Ladakh leaders cancel electoral boycott
While senior BJP leaders in Leh avoided the phone calls, party sources and the administration attributed the poor performance of the party to the Center, which was very devoted to granting constitutional safeguards under the Sixth Program to Ladakh, along the lines of the Territorial Council. of Bodo.
The last meeting of the Hill Council, which was also attended by the BJP deputy Namgyal, had approved a unanimous resolution that sought “under the 6th Annex, Article 371 or Domicile Law of the Constitution to protect the rights of the indigenous peoples of the Territory of the Union”.
The opposition Congress had withdrawn from the meeting, claiming that Ladakh UT in its current form was “incomplete”.
Read also | Leh delegation meets with Amit Shah and withdraws call to boycott Ladakh hill council elections
MP Namgyal, however, welcomed the resolution, saying that “the selective law and safeguards of any state cannot be replicated in Ladakh as it has its unique demographics, different socio-economic and climatic conditions, geo-climatic factors and aspects. border “.
However, as there was no movement after the resolution, the local units of all political parties, including the BJP, decided to boycott the LAHDC polls. As the National Conference and the PDP had already decided to stay away from the electoral exercise to protest against the repeal of Article 370, the BJP high command persuaded their local leaders to participate in the elections, hoping that it would be a piece of cake for them in absentia. of the two main regional parties, said a senior UT administration official.
.
