File photo of voters waiting to cast their votes for the 5th LAHDC Kargil elections, in Kargil, in 2023.
Credit: PTI Photo
The voting for the Lok Sabha elections in Ladakh is scheduled to take place during the fifth phase of the polls, on May 20.
This will mark the first independent elections in Ladakh after it was carved out of Jammu and Kashmir and established as a Union Territory.
Ladakh, reserved for Scheduled Tribes, holds the distinction of being India’s largest constituency in terms of area and shares borders with Pakistan, along the Line of Control (LOC). The constituency comprises four Vidhan Sabha seats—Kargil, Leh, Nobra, and Zanskar.
In the 2019 elections, the Ladakh constituency witnessed a notable voter turnout of 76.4 per cent. Riding on the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP leader Jamyang Tsering Namgyal secured victory with 33.94 per cent of the votes, defeating independent candidate Sajjad Hussain, who managed to garner only 25.30 percent of the votes.
The 2014 Lok Sabha elections in Ladakh were fiercely contested, with the BJP ultimately winning the seat as its candidate, Thupstan Chhewang, narrowly defeated his closest rival, Ghulam Raza.
As per the 2011 census report, Ladakh boasts a literacy rate of 90.29 per cent, with male literacy at 94.89 per cent and female literacy at 78.85 per cent.
Given its direct oversight by the central government, the election results in Ladakh carry significant weight, serving as a primary indicator of the BJP government's influence following the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.