The Union Territory of Ladakh registered a 69.62 per cent voter turnout in the lone Lok Sabha seat on Monday, the second best in the country after West Bengal with 73 per cent overall.
Muslim-dominated Kargil district recorded a turnout of 74 per cent compared to Buddhist-dominated Leh district’s 64.9 per cent.
Tashi Gyalson (BJP), Tsering Namgyal (Congress), and Mohammad Hanifa Jan (Independent), supported by the National Conference and Congress, competed for the Ladakh Lok Sabha seat, which the BJP had won for the past two consecutive elections in 2014 and 2019.
Voting percentage in the Ladakh seat, which was previously part of Jammu and Kashmir, has been declining steadily. Monday’s was the first Lok Sabha election since it was declared a Union Territory on August 5, 2019.
Ladakh recorded a turnout of 73.52 per cent In 2004, which fell to 72.8 per cent in 2009, falling further to 71.40 per cent in 2014 and 71.5 per cent in 2019.
After the vote, the Returning Officer for Ladakh Parliamentary Constituency and Deputy Commissioner Leh Santosh Sukhdev and SP Leh Shruti Arora briefed journalists in Leh, saying polling was conducted smoothly.
Ladakh is India's biggest Parliamentary constituency in terms of territory, covering the two districts of Leh and Kargil. It spans over 59,000 square kilometres, which is over 40 times the size of Delhi.
Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh Brig (Dr) BD Mishra (Retd) and his wife Neelam Mishra voted at Skara Yokma in Leh.
"Voting is the celebration of democracy. I'm glad we're commemorating it this way. Free and fair voting is an essential component of democracy.
"I want Ladakh to grow and our youth to have every opportunity," Mishra told reporters in Leh after voting.
At least ten 'Model Booths' were put up here, complete with traditional seating arrangements and local snacks, as election advertising music played.
Of Ladakh's 1.84 lakh voters, 95,926 were in the Kargil district and 88,877 in Leh, with 298 polling stations there, while Kargil had 279 booths. Election officials in both districts had set up Model and Pink Polling Stations.
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