NC-Congress combine sweeps Kargil hill council polls, wins 19 seats against BJP’s 2

Leh: The National Conference (NC)-Congress combine swept the 26-member Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council-Kargil (LAHDC-K) elections and bagged 19 seats, in the first ever polls held since Ladakh was carved out as a Union Territory (UT) in 2019, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) managed to win only two seats.

The NC, which is a part of the pan-India Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), won 11 seats, while the Congress bagged eight seats.

The BJP just managed to win two seats and an Independent candidate one seat. The results of four seats were not declared when this report was filed.

The elections were held on October 4, 2023, where 77.61% voters, out of a total electorate of 74,026, cast their ballot. During the campaigning, the NC pitched these polls as a referendum on the Centre’s moves on August 5, 2019, when J&K’s special constitutional position was ended and was split into two UTs.