Union Territory status dominated electioneering in the country's geographically largest Lok Sabha (LS) constituency of Ladakh.
Leading the charge is the BJP, which has thrown the Union Territory bait to the voters to retain the seat. The constituency is going to polls in the fifth phase on Monday
BJP has fielded sitting Chief Executive Councilor (CEC) of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) of Leh, Jamyang Tsering Namgyal.
Namgyal is locked in a four-way contest with Congress' Rigzin Spalbar and two independents including journalist-turned-politician Sajjad Hussain, who is supported by National Conference and PDP, and Congress rebel Asgar Ali Karbalai.
"This (UT status) is our long-standing demand. We will fight for it till the demand is fulfilled. We've also included the demand in our poll manifesto," said Namgyal.
Unlike Congress, BJP has made Ladakh a prestigious electoral battle and has brought top leaders to campaign in the cold desert, including Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, MoS for Home Kiren Rijju and BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav.
The party had won Ladakh seat in 2014 by just 36 votes. BJP candidate Thupstan Cheewang polled 31,111 votes to his nearest rival Ghulam Raza's (Ind) 31,075 votes. Cheewang, however, resigned from BJP and Lok Sabha last year. Congress has fielded former CEO of LAHDC Leh led Rigzin Spalbar.
What has complicated the matters for Congress is their former MLA Asgar Karbalai has quit the party after he was denied ticket and is contesting as an independent.
Interestingly, the national parties have chosen candidates from Buddhist-majority Leh, while both independents are from the Muslim-majority Kargil district.
"NC and PDP are supporting me in the larger interest of Kargil. Islamia School, Jamat Ahle Sunnat and Buddhist community of Kargil have supported me. Plus the votes in Leh are getting divided between Congress and BJP," said Sajjad.
Leh and Kargil are terror-free districts of Jammu and Kashmir, the reason why they have not been brought under the ambit of disturbed areas and Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).
- 59,146 sq.km: Ladakh is the largest constituency in the country as far as area is concerned
- 15,000 feet: Altitude of the highest polling station, Anlay Dho in Leh district.
- 50 meters: Distance between Anlay Dho booth and Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China.
1,74,618
Total number of voters
- 86,752: Total male voters
- 85,064: Female voters
- 2,799: Service voters
- 3: Third gender voters
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