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| As LS elections come closer parties set to 'weep' for Ladakh | | | Ishtiyaq Ahmad
Early Times Report
Srinagar, June 2: As the Lok Sabha elections are coming closer, all political parties are set to shed tears on 'ignored' Ladakh.
Sources said leaders of all the political parties have decided to raise the issues in the general elections, which the successive governments failed to fulfill.
"Before elections, promises have been made with the people of Ladakh, but once the elections were over, nobody paid any heed," a Congress leader said.
Sources said there is general feeling among the leaders that the Ladakh region has been completely ignored in the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) between the PDP and BJP or between NC and Congress.
"We were promised Union Territory status but the BJP has backtracked from its promise," Mohammad Sadi, a resident of Zanskar said.
The demand for the Union Territory status was vindicated by Congress and BJP during their election campaigning. However, the PDP had said such a move will not only divide the state but dilute its special status.
It was in 2002 when the then PDP-Congress government granted devolution of powers to LAHDC and later the NC-Congress government in 2013 granted special status to the Ladakh region although it stoked a major controversy when there was opposition from various quarters that granting special status to Ladakh region.
During elections, the Ladakh unit of the Congress sought contested Union Territory status, which was opposed by the State Congress leadership and other political parties. However, BJP had supported the demand when its senior party leader Nitin Gadkari said, "Ladakh genuinely deserves UT status as it has badly been discriminated in terms of development, employment and deprived of even basic facilities like 'bijli, sadak paani".
Presently, the Ladakh Hill Development Council has the power to give any contract upto Rs 7 crore above which it needs the permission from the state government.
"The employees of the Council come under the state government. Sometimes the DCs are not adhering to the directions of the Council during the framing of district plan since they come under the jurisdiction of the state government. Now we want that it should be fully empowered that even state employees in the Ladakh region have to follow its directions for the development of the region," he said.
Replying to a question that BJP and Congress leaders of the Ladakh region have been demanding Union Territory status for the Ladakh region, a BJP leader replied, "All social, political and religious organizations have been fighting for it. But it won't be possible for the BJP to fulfill the demand in this government since we are in the coalition with the PDP and the government has to run as per the CMP." |
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