Three-way contest in Ladakh as candidates seek to address local issues

The Ladakh Lok Sabha seat will go to the polls on May 20 with an interesting battle between Congress BJP and an independent candidateThe largest Lok Sabha seat in the country in terms of area Ladakh does not seem to be an easy ride for the BJP as there have been demands for sixth schedule status and also full statehoodThe constituency borders China and Pakistan and has a lot of geostrategic significance It also draws tourists from different parts of India and the worldLadakh was carved out as a union territory from Jammu and Kashmir in 2019 following the governments decision to abrogate Article 370The BJP has replaced its sitting MP Jamyang Tsering Namgyal with Tashi Gyalson the Chief Executive Councillor and Chairman of the Hill Council Leh Congress has fielded Tsering Namgyal who previously led the opposition in the Hill CouncilBoth Gyalson and Namgyal are from Leh while independent candidate Haji Haneefa Jan hails from Kargil and has in the past been associated with National ConferenceThe Ladakh constituency encompasses the cities of Leh and Kargil Leh has a Buddhist majority while Kargil has large presence of the Muslim communityKargil has more voters than Leh Haneefa Jan is seen to have an edge amid perceptions that votes in Leh will get divided between two candidates from the regionIn the 2019 elections Jamyang Tsering Namgyal won with independent candidate Sajjad Hussain coming second Independent candidate Asgar Ali Karbalai and Congress candidate Rigzin Spalbar followed in third and fourth place respectivelyThe election is taking place among demand both in Kargil and Leh for 6th Schedule status and separate statehood for LadakhUnder the alliance agreement as part of INDIA bloc between National Conference and Congress in Jammu and Kashmir the Ladakh seat was given to the latterResidents of Ladkah had been seeking UT status which was fulfilled in 2019 The Congress in its manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls has said that it will amend the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution to include the tribal areas of LadakhThe voting for the Ladakh Parliamentary Constituency is scheduled to take place during the fifth phase of the polls on May 20This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever