Kargil: The fifth Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC)-Kargil elections commenced here on Wednesday in most of the 26 seats.
65 % vote casted in Kargil district as per the cumulative figure of 3rd round of voting for the 5th LAHDC elections.
73 % vote casted in Kargil district as per the cumulative figure of 4th round of voting for the 5th LAHDC elections.
The counting of votes is scheduled for October 8 and the new council will be in place before October 11.
A total of 95,388 voters including 46,762 women are eligible to exercise their franchise from 8 am to 4 pm on Wednesday to decide the electoral fate of 85 candidates in 26 seats of the 30-member Hill Council, according to election officials.
The existing council headed by National Conference’s Feroz Ahmad Khan completed its five-year term on October 1.
The alliance parties Congress and National Conference will have a direct contest with BJP for the 26 Council seats, and it is the first polls in Kargil after the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir State into two Union Territories on August 5, 2019.
However, in some Council seats, NC and Congress had fielded candidates against each other, which they described as a friendly contest; In the last council, the NC had 10 members and the Congress had 8. There are 85 candidates contesting the polls, with 22 representing the Congress, 17 from the NC, 17 from the BJP, four from the Aam Aadmi Party, and 24 Independent candidates.
The NC leaders linked the Hill Council poll result with the abrogation of Article 370, saying that the result would be an indication that voters in the region rejected decisions of August 5, 2019.
On the other hand, the BJP, which had three members in the last Council, during their campaign focused on the development in the region after the abrogation of Article 370. The poll campaign ended on Monday evening.
According to election officials, there are over 95,000 voters, including 46,762 women, who are eligible to exercise their franchise on Wednesday. They said the voting would be conducted through Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), which are being used for the first time in any council elections. The officials said 278 polling stations have been set up across the Kargil district. EVMs and statutory material distribution for elections were dispatched to respective constituencies, an official said.
