The upcoming hill council elections in Kargil are set to reflect the mood of the region post August 5, 2019. They are the first polls to be held since the Union government carved out Ladakh from the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir and made it a Union Territory without an Assembly.
The elections to the 30-member Ladakh Hill Development Council-Kargil (LAHDC-K), which looks after the governance issues locally, are going to be a direct contest between the National Conference (NC)-Congress combine and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The polls for 26 seats are scheduled for September 10 and the counting of votes will take place four days later. The other four seats are nominated.
The constituents of the People’s Alliance for the Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), an amalgam of regional political parties fighting for the restoration of the pre-August 5, 2019 position in J&K, have decided not to contest the polls together. They had contested the District Development Council polls in Jammu and Kashmir together in 2020.
“The PAGD was never an electoral alliance but a grouping for a larger cause. The DDC elections came up for a discussion at the platform and it was decided that we would contest together in 2020. In Kargil, we have decided to ally with the Congress,” National Conference leader Tanvir Sadiq told The Hindu. The National Conference (NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are the two main constituents of the PAGD.
The PDP, which won two seats in the 2018 polls in Kargil, has decided not to contest the upcoming elections. The party suffered a major setback after its Kargil leadership switched to the BJP after 2019.
Asgar Ali Karbalai, senior Congress leader and head of the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) which is fighting for special status for Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, sees the alliance with the NC as a natural progression.
“The alliance is a reflection of the INDIA [Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance] bloc of secular forces at the Centre. The BJP is the main opponent. The growing politics of hate, unemployment and poor budgetary role of the hill council are the main planks on which the Congress is fighting these polls,” Mr. Karbalai said.
The local leadership of the Congress admitted that the unscheduled visit of former party chief Rahul Gandhi to Kargil and his speech, where he accused the BJP of being anti-Muslim and said that it intended to take away land from the local people, could be game changer in the upcoming polls.
“Mr. Gandhi’s freewheeling interaction with youth was an indicator. We were expecting 250 youth to attend it. We were surprised to see around 800 youth participating in the interaction session,” Mr. Karbalai said.
The Congress has decided to field candidates in 23 seats and the NC in 20 seats. “We are having friendly contests on many seats,” Mr. Sadiq said.
The BJP, which has an MP from Ladakh and dominated the elections to the LAHDC-Leh in 2020, is working hard to increase their numbers in the council in Kargil. In the 2018 elections, the BJP managed to win just one seat.
Jamyang Tsering Namgyal, MP from Ladakh, recently directed the BJP cadre in Kargil to highlight “the development projects undertaken during the BJP’s tenure, which far exceeded those completed by previous administrations”.
“Voting in favor of the BJP candidates is regarded as a vote for the return of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership and a continuation of the developmental journey of the Kargil district,” Mr. Namgyal said. He said the council elections promised to be a significant turning point for the region’s development trajectory.
However, Haji Inayat Ali, a senior BJP leader, said the BJP’s rise in Kargil would be “challenging”.
“It’s a challenge . We accept it. We will do better this time. The BJP is also challenging the monopoly of the Congress and the NC. They are infusing a wrong impression and narrative among the people that the BJP was anti-Muslim,” Mr. Ali said.
The BJP has fielded candidates from 17 seats. “We are also supporting Independents,” he added. The BJP is banking on the Buddhist population of Zanskar to improve its tally this time.
The polls also saw the NC fighting a long legal battle to retain the party symbol. The courts have so far favoured the NC plea to retain the symbol. “We are yet to receive the symbol so far formally,” Mr. Sadiq said.
Kargil has a population of 1.08 lakh, with the Shia community in majority. There are around 65,878 eligible voters.
Two seminaries — the Anjuman Jamiatul Ulama Islamia School- Kargil and the Imam Khomeini Memorial Trust — are expected to play a significant role in who wins the elections in Kargil. This time, these seminaries have thrown their weight behind the Kargil Democratic Alliance.
