Due to the emergence of serious differences between the Kargil and Leh units of the party, the Congress in Ladakh landed into a piquant situation as a faction is openly canvassing for Independent candidate Haji Hanifa Jan.
District Congress Committee of Kargil announced to support Haji Hanifa Jan instead of the official party candidate Tsering Namgyal in the Ladakh seat.
Haji Hanifa Jan is a unanimous candidate of all religious, political, and social organizations of Kargil. Except for the Kargil unit of BJP, all other political parties have announced support for Haji Hanifa Jan, a National Conference leader who is contesting the election as an Independent candidate.
Three days after the Ladakh unit of the National Conference tendered mass resignations on the issue of supporting the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc candidate Tsering Namgyal, the Kargil unit of the Congress also issued a warning to the high command against forcing them to support the coalition candidate.
Leadership figures within the Kargil sector of the Congress party have unequivocally communicated to the central leadership their stance regarding the upcoming Ladakh Lok Sabha elections. They have firmly stated their refusal to endorse the official party nominee, Tsering Namgyal. Instead, the entire Kargil contingent of the party is throwing its weight behind Independent candidate Haji Hanifa Jan, who enjoys broad support from both political and religious quarters in Kargil.
Naseer Munshi, a senior leader within the Kargil unit of the Congress, has explicitly conveyed to the party high command that, regardless of party lines, the populace of Kargil has rallied behind Haji Hanifa Jan. Hence, there is no justification for backing the party's endorsed candidate, Tsering Namgyal.
Ladakh unit of NC already submitted mass resignations
As reported earlier on May 6, the entire Kargil unit in the Union Territory of Ladakh has announced mass resignations due to disagreements over the choice of candidate for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Additional General Secretary of the party, Qamar Ali Akhoon, has announced the decision to support the Independent candidate for this seat.
Ladakh, with a voter base of more than 1.82 lakh, is scheduled to go to polls in the fifth phase of elections on May 20. The deadline for withdrawal of candidature is May 6.
There are three candidates in the fray, including BJP's Tashi Gyalson, Congress's Tsering Namgyal hailing from Leh, and Haji Hanifa Jan (Independent) of Kargil.
1,84,803 voters to decide fates of three candidates on Ladakh
1,84,803 candidates will decide the fates of three candidates in the lone Lok Sabha seat of Ladakh, which is divided between two districts: Leh, dominated by Buddhists, and Kargil, dominated by Shia Muslims.
Tashi Gyalson (BJP) and Tsering Namgyal (Congress) are the two candidates from the Leh district, while Mohammad Haneefa Jan, who is contesting the election as an Independent candidate, is the lone contestant from the Kargil district.
Out of the total of 1,84,803 voters in the Ladakh Parliamentary seat, 92,689 are males and 92,114 are females. Leh district has 88877 voters and Kargil has 95926.
