SRINAGAR : In the Union Territory of Ladakh, where the parliamentary seat is slated for polling in the 5th phase on May 20, marking a pivotal electoral moment post Article 370’s abrogation, both the national stalwarts Congress and BJP find themselves ensnared in significant quandaries. Against the backdrop of the cold desert region, a political showdown looms between Congress and the INDIA alliance, potentially culminating in a paradoxical BJP versus BJP contest.
In the race for Ladakh’s singular Lok Sabha seat, both Congress and BJP are grappling with internal dissent. The Congress Leh unit has put forth Tsering Namgyal, aged 51, as their contender for the seat. Accompanied by party luminaries, including former legislator Rigzin, Namgyal formally filed his nomination papers as the endorsed Congress candidate in Leh.
Notably, the Kargil unit of Congress has forged an alliance with the National Conference (NC) and opted to field its own candidate. Nasir Munshi, the District Congress president of Kargil, declared that the Kargil faction, in collaboration with NC, has chosen to nominate NC luminary Haji Mohammad Hanifa Jan for the Ladakh seat, a decision purportedly backed by Kargil’s populace. Designating their nominee as an INDIA alliance candidate, both NC and Congress are integral constituents of this coalition. As per the seat-sharing accord between NC and PDP concerning the six LS seats of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, NC is slated to contest all three LS seats in the Valley, while Congress is designated both parliamentary seats in the Jammu region along with the solitary LS seat in Ladakh.
Presently, only four candidates, inclusive of the official Congress and BJP nominees, along with their substitute candidates, have lodged their nomination papers for the Ladakh LS seat. However, with a single day remaining for the submission of nomination papers, the pivotal question persists: Can Congress persuade its Kargil unit to retract its own candidate aligned with NC and instead throw its weight behind the party’s official nominee? Should the Kargil Congress unit opt to endorse Hanifa Jan, he would then vie as an independent candidate, setting the stage for a riveting showdown between Congress and the INDIA alliance contender amidst the frigid desert landscape.
The BJP, too, grapples with a similar conundrum as its incumbent MP, Jamyang Tsering Namgayal, harbours discontent following the party’s decision to deny him a mandate. Although he has acquired nomination papers from the election office, he has not yet submitted them. According to sources close to him, Namgayal is currently in discussions with his loyal party supporters, leaders, and close associates to determine whether to run as an independent candidate in the upcoming elections.
The BJP has allocated the ticket to 49-year-old Advocate Tashi Gyalson, a former PDP luminary who joined the saffron ranks after the collapse of the PDP-BJP coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir in June 2018. Gyalson formally lodged his nomination papers from the seat on Wednesday.