Ladakh polls witness fresh demands from Leh, Nobra and Zanskar.
Srinagar: While the people of Leh and Nobra demand Union Territory status for Ladakh division from candidates contesting elections, people of Zanskar sub-division in Kargil district have threatened to boycott polls if their demand for granting district status to Zanskar is not fulfilled.
Both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress face internal rebellions and contesting of rebel candidates, especially from Kargil, have added to their troubles. Recently, the central leadership of the BJP sent Shia leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi to Ladakh to mobilise Shia support.
BJP was confident to reclaim this seat after according of divisional status to Ladakh and creation of three administrative units of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. However, Thupstan Chhewang, former MP and BJP member, after his resignation has asked people of Ladakh division to get firm commitment from any political party before they vote for the Union Territory status.
Now, the Assembly segment of Zanskar, which is part of the Ladakh parliamentary segment, has decided to boycott the coming polls on 6 May, if their demand for district status is not accepted by the government. This segment happens to be one of the key ones in these elections. According to official records, Zanskar has 22,626 voters. The data shows that during the 2014 parliamentary polls, 14,505 votes were polled in Zanskar. The BJP won that election by only 36 votes and made its presence felt for the first time in the Ladakh area.
Reports said that in Zanskar, political activists across parties have decided to support this demand and former Zanskar MLA Aga Syed Bakir Rizvi, who recently joined Sajjad Lone’s Peoples’ Conference, also supports this demand. Talking to this reporter, Rizvi said that Zanskar deserves district status as it remains completely cut off for six months. Asked about the boycott threat, he said, “The final decision would be taken in consultation will all the political activists of the area and also voters are important. If voters say that they will boycott, then it would be considered.”
Ladakh will go to polls on 6 May and the BJP has gained an upper hand while canvassing for polls, as the Congress has suffered a setback as its influential leader and former MLA Asgar Ali Karbalai has decided to contest this election as an independent candidate. He has the backing of all the important political leaders of Kargil.
Rigzin Spalbar, who is the official Congress candidate, told this reporter that he was getting a lot of response from voters in the entire Ladakh division and tried to underplay the problems created by rebel candidate Karbalai who is contesting as an independent candidate.