Voters in Ladakh are casting their vote for the first time in Union territory since the repeal of Article 370 on August 5, 2019.
Ladakh has been in the news recently for demonstrations against the union government's demand for sixth-schedule status, statehood, reservation of jobs, land, and separate statehood.
Amid unfulfilled demands, Ladakh is voting today in the fifth phase of the parliamentary elections.
The Ladakh Lok Sabha seat has 1.84 lakh voters in two districts: Leh and Kargil.
The Election Commission has established 577 voting stations in the constituency, including 298 in Leh district and 279 in Kargil district.
Ladakh’s Hanle (Anle) Phu polling station in Leh district is 15,000 feet above sea level, making it the world's second-highest voting station. Warshi polling station is the final settlement in the Nubra region of Leh district, barely 20 kilometres from the Siachen Glacier base camp.
Interestingly, this polling station is set up for just five people belonging to one family.
The IAF flew election officials, electronic voting machines, and security personnel to Jinchan and Dipling polling stations in Leh, as well as Phema, Ralakun, and Shadey polling stations in Kargil district.
Of the 1.84 lakh voters, 95,926 live in Kargil and 88,877 in Leh. There are 1,127 disabled voters and 1,570 senior voters. The district of Leh is mostly Buddhist, whereas Kargil is predominantly Shia Muslim.
Three candidates are running: Tashi Gyalson of the BJP, Tsering Namgyal of the Congress, and Haji Hanifa Jan, an independent candidate sponsored by rebels from the National Conference (NC) and the Congress.
According to the terms of the INDIA bloc alliance, the NC had ceded Ladakh's seat to the Congress, but a mutiny among the local NC and the Congress has rendered the INDIA bloc alliance pact ineffective in this constituency.
The BJP won this seat in 2014 and 2019. This time, it is expected that the lone Muslim candidate from the Kargil district will have an advantage over the Congress and BJP candidates.
This seat is poised for a hot-headed contest, as the inclusion of Haji Hanifa Jan has complicated the stakes for both Congress and the BJP.
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