Today will see the vote for the fifth Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC)-Kargil. Since Article 370 was repealed, Ladakh hasn’t had elections till now. The Kargil hill council election is Ladakh’s first local election after it separated from J&K in August 2019 and became a UT.
The new council will be in place by October 11 after the October 8 vote-counting deadline. The current council, presided over by Feroz Ahmad Khan of the National Conference, finished its five-year tenure on October 1.
95,388 voters, including 46,762 women, are qualified to cast ballots from 8 am to 4 pm.
There are 85 candidates vying for 26 seats on the Hill Council, which has 30 members.
Despite their pre-election cooperation, the National Conference and Congress have only nominated 17 and 22, respectively. The agreement is only in effect in regions where the BJP faces a formidable opponent.
The BJP, which won one seat in the last election and eventually increased its total to three when two PDP councillors joined it, has put out 17 candidates this time.
According to the authorities, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is running for four seats and is competing against 25 independent candidates.
For the first time ever, electronic voting machines (EVMs) are being utilized for the council elections.
Out of the 278 voting locations put up around the area, 114 are hypersensitive and 99 are sensitive, according to election authorities. To guarantee a peaceful election, more companies of the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) have already been sent out and are doing their jobs.
