LAHDC Kargil polls underway in 26 constituencies; 1st key poll in UT since Article 370 abrogation

Voting for the 5th Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC)-Kargil elections began on Wednesday morning in which 87 candidates are trying their luck for 26 constituencies.

The polling started at 8 am and is underway smoothly across Kargil district, reports said. At several polling stations, long queues of voters were seen who had come to exercise their franchise.

LAHDC-Kargil has a total of 95,388 voters including 46,762 women. The eligible voters will exercise their franchise from 8 am to 4 pm today.

Deputy Commissioner, Kargil, Shrikant Balasaheb Suse said, “Arrangements have been made to carry out free and fair elections. Out of the 278 stations, 114 are hyper-sensitive and 99 are sensitive polling stations.”

The polling is the first democratic exercise in Kargil district since 2019, post granting of Union Territory status to the Ladakh region. Election campaigning, which ended on Monday, witnessed a high decibel campaign resembling an assembly polling with top leaders from different local and national parties participating in the electioneering.

The counting of votes is scheduled for October 8 and the new council will be in place before October 11. The existing council headed by National Conference’s (NC) Feroz Khan completed its five-year term on October 1.

The NC and Congress have announced a pre-poll alliance but have put up 17 and 22 candidates respectively. Both parties said the arrangement has been restricted to areas where there is a tough contest with the BJP.