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Journalism of Courage
Surprising the BJP, the Congress Saturday retained a seat in the Leh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) for which a by-election was held on September 13.
The dominant party in the LAHDC, the BJP had been confident of wresting the Timisgam seat, especially with its top leaders, including Ladakh MP Jamyang Tsering Namgyal, steering its campaign.
Wounded by the defection of senior Jammu and Kashmir leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, and his jabs at the party since, the Congress will get a welcome breather in the region from the Ladakh win. It was the first test for the party after Azad’s defection, with the senior leader taking away many of its senior party workers.
In the results that were declared Saturday for the Timisgam seat, the Congress’s Tashi Tundup got 861 votes, against 588 for the BJP’s Dorjey Namgyal.
The LAHDC is the only elected body of Leh now, since J&K was split into two Union territories on August 5, 2019, with the abrogation of Article 370, and its Assembly dissolved.
In the last elections held to the hill council, held in 2020, the BJP had won 15 of the 26 seats, with the Congress managing nine, and Independents getting the remaining two. Four of the members in the 30-seat LAHDC are nominated.
The Timisgam seat had fallen vacant due to the death of Congress councillor Sonam Dorjey. Among those who campaigned for the BJP was its Chief Executive Councillor, LAHDC, Tashi Gyalson.
Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the LAHDC T Namgyal said that the win showed that the people were apprehensive of the BJP. “People of Ladakh want the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution to be implemented in the region to protect our jobs, land and culture, but the BJP government has failed to provide the same despite repeated demands and agitations,” he said.
Senior Congress leader and general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh too took note of the result, amidst his updates on the party’s presidential election and Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra. “Here is some breaking news for Modi, Shah and Azad. The Congress party has defeated the BJP by a convincing margin in the Timisgam by-election in the Ladakh Hill Council. Congratulations to the Ladakh District Congress Committee,” he tweeted.
