Early Times Report
Jammu, May 6: The mass resignation of the leaders of the National Conference from Ladakh raised many eyebrows because this hard decision was taken only after strict direction from party president Dr. Farooq Abdullah.
Although Dr. Farooq Abdullah has warned party leaders against defying his order to support the Congress candidate Tsering Namgyal in the Ladakh Lok Sabha seat, it is believed that the National Conference is going to repeat the 2009 episode to “ditch” the coalition partner.
In the year 2009, there was a coalition government of the National Conference and Congress in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. As per the seat-sharing agreement at that time the Ladakh Lok Sabha seat was allocated to the Congress.
Congress fielded senior leader P Namgyal on this seat. The then National Conference leader Ghulam Hassan Khan raised a banner of revolt and joined the electoral fray on this seat. Leaders of the Kargil unit of the National Conference clandestinely supported Khan, who also had the support of the Islamia School and Khomeini Trust.
Khan won the Ladakh Lok Sabha seat as an Independent candidate by defeating the coalition partner candidate.
Interestingly, after winning Khan extended unconditional Farooq Abdullah has warned party leaders against defying his order to support the Congress candidate Tsering Namgyal
In 2009 as per the seat-sharing agreement at that time the Ladakh Lok Sabha seat was allocated to the Congress.
The Congress fielded P Namgyal on this seat. The then NC leader Ghulam Hassan Khan raised a banner of revolt and joined the electoral fray.
Khan won the Ladakh Lok Sabha seat as an Independent candidate by defeating the coalition partner candidate.
After winning Khan extended unconditional support to the UPA at the behest of the NC president Dr Farooq Abdullah.
Meanwhile, in a significant setback for the National Conference, the entire Kargil unit in the Union Territory of Ladakh has announced mass resignations due to disagreements over the choice of candidate for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The decision was conveyed to party president Dr. Farooq Abdullah in a letter by Qamar Ali Akhoon, the Additional General Secretary of Ladakh.
Akhoon revealed that the unit’s resignation stemmed from pressure exerted by the party’s high command to support the official Congress candidate from Ladakh.
However, this move contradicts the decision made by the Kargil Democratic Alliance, which has nominated Haji Haneefa Jan as its candidate.
Ladakh, with a voter base of more than 1.82 lakh, is scheduled to go to polls in the fifth phase of elections on May 20. The deadline for withdrawal of candidature is May 6.
Earlier, nominations of two covering candidates and an Independent were rejected during scrutiny of papers, leaving only three candidates in contention for the upcoming elections. Among these, are BJP’s Tashi Gyalson, Congress’s Tsering Namgyal hail from Leh, and Haji Hanifa Jan of Kargil. | 