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| Expelled from NC, Jaffer Akhoon to resign as LAHDC-K chief soon, hints at joining BJP | | |
Early Times Report
JAMMU, Oct 17: Months after the National Conference threw him out of the party, Dr. Mohammad Jaffer Akhoon, Chief Executive Councillor (CEC) of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Kargil, has announced he will step down from the post. His effusive praise for BJP leaders suggests his next political home.
Addressing a function on Friday after Sankoo was granted district status, Akhoon said he had been waiting for this day. He said he intends to resign as CEC in the coming days. He described the district status as the fulfilment of a long-standing demand, pursued for better administration and development of the region.
Akhoon expressed heartfelt gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Ladakh Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena and others. The warmth with which he spoke of national and local BJP leaders left little doubt about where he may be headed, and he is widely expected to join the party soon.
The National Conference (NC) had expelled Akhoon from its primary membership for six years on July 18, citing anti-party activities and indiscipline. The action followed his survival of a Congress-sponsored no-confidence motion, which he defeated with the support of two BJP councillors and four BJP-backed nominated councillors. The expulsion was announced on the party’s official X handle, which said NC General Secretary Haji Ali Mohammad Sagar had ordered it. The post said the action was taken in view of his anti-party activities and for causing indiscipline within the party.
Sources said the NC leadership was unhappy that Akhoon had turned to the BJP and the four BJP-backed nominated councillors to get the council’s budget passed, bypassing its coalition partner, the Congress. At the budget meeting chaired by Akhoon, all 12 NC councillors, six BJP-backed members (including the nominated councillors), o The National Conference had expelled Akhoon from its primary membership for six years , citing anti-party activities and indiscipline.
The action had followed his survival of a Congress-sponsored no-confidence motion, which he defeated with the support of two BJP councillors and four BJP-backed nominated councillors.
Akhoon expressed heartfelt gratitude to PM Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Ladakh LG Vinai Kumar Saxena and others.
The warmth with which he spoke of national and local BJP leaders left little doubt about where he may be headed, and he is widely expected to join the party soon.
The crisis began in May, when the Congress, backed by five dissident NC councillors, moved a no-confidence motion against Akhoon. The Congress alleged he had refused to hand over the CEC post as required by the post-poll power-sharing agreement between the two allies. The motion was signed by 16 councillors, 11 from the Congress and five from the NC, and submitted to Kargil Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Kumar with a request to initiate proceedings under the LAHDC Act. Kargil Congress president Asgar Ali Karbalai then demanded Akhoon’s resignation and a transfer of power to his party.
The roots of the standoff lie in the October 2023 LAHDC-Kargil elections. The NC emerged as the single-largest party with 12 seats in the 26-member elected council, while the Congress won 10. The BJP and Independents secured two seats each. Four nominated councillors appointed by the government take the House to 30. After the fractured verdict, the NC and the Congress formed a coalition and agreed to rotate the CEC post every two and a half years, with the NC leading the first half of the five-year term and the Congress the second.
The arrangement was announced by Omar Abdullah, then a senior NC leader and now the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. Akhoon was elected Chairperson-cum-CEC on October 18, 2023, and completed his two-and-a-half-year tenure on April 18, 2026. He did not step down, delaying the swearing-in of a Congress nominee as envisaged under the pact.
As things stand, the NC has 12 councillors, the Congress 10, the BJP two elected members, and Independents two. With four nominated councillors supporting the BJP, its effective strength is six. The majority mark in the council is 16. |
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