INDIA VOTES 2024: Independent candidate’s withdrawal, support for Hanifa Jan set to split vote bank in Ladakh

Arjun Sharma

Jammu, May 5

In a yet another turn of political events in the northern most Union Territory of Ladakh, a prominent face, Sajjad Kargili, who was the runner-up in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, has decided to withdraw his nomination for the upcoming polls and support another Independent candidate, Haji Hanifa Jan, who is also backed by Kargil Congress and the NC.

Kargili, a youth activist of the region, is also a member of Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), which along with Leh Apex Body (LAB), has been demanding a Sixth Schedule status and statehood for Ladakh for the past several months. His decision to support Hanifa came after a late evening meeting of social, religious and political leaders of Kargil on Saturday.

“I have decided to withdraw my nomination as an Independent candidate for LS polls in Ladakh for unity. I will also campaign for Haji Hanifa Jan for the polls scheduled for May 20,” Kargili told The Tribune.

The decision is set to consolidate the vote bank in favour of Hanifa in Muslim majority Kargil district, while there are apprehensions that the votes might split in Buddhist dominated Leh in favour of Congress and BJP candidates — Tsering Namgyal and Tashi Gyalson — respectively.

Ladakh has remained polarised on religious lines where voters prefer candidates from their own region in Leh and Kargil. Hanifa Jan, being the only prominent Muslim candidate from Kargil, is likely to benefit from this polarisation.

Jan, who is the district president of the NC, has also received support from the senior leadership of Congress and NC from Kargil. In a surprising move, the main leadership of the NC, including vice-president Omar Abdullah and others, have not intervened in the scenario which has put the INDIA alliance on the tenterhooks in the UT.

The NC and Congress are already in an alliance in the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Kargil. The NC had won 12 seats while Congress got 10 of 26 seats in which elections were held last year. Congress insiders say as party leaders in Kargil are supporting Haji Hanifa, the vote bank of the party will split in two districts as the official candidate of the party, Tsering Namgyal, belongs to Leh.

Decision to maintain unity

I have decided to withdraw my nomination as an Independent candidate for LS poll in Ladakh for unity. I will also campaign for Haji Hanifa Jan for the polls scheduled for May 20. — Sajjad Kargili, KDA leader

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