Key Takeaways
- Turnout hit **65%** by 1 pm, showing strong voter engagement.
- The **BJP**, **Congress**, and **National Conference** contested 26 of the 30 seats.
- Highest turnout recorded in **Ranbirpora Drass** (90%) while **Gund Manglapur** lagged at 49%.
- No incidents of violence reported, indicating a peaceful polling process.
Srinagar: The Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council- Kargil (LAHDC-K) on Wednesday witnessed an impressive turnout of 65 per cent till 1 pm.
This is the first-ever civic elections in Kargil district since Ladakh was carved out of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019 as a separate Union territory.
In today’s polls, the BJP is up against a united opposition of Congress and National Conference on 26 seats of the 30-member Council. 85 candidates are contesting 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 Hill council has over 95,000 registered voters and out of them 46762 are females.
Officials said the polling started on a brisk note in Kargil district and long queues were seen outside the polling stations.
The highest turnout was recorded in Ranbirpora Drass constituency where 90 percent voting took place by 1 pm. The lowest turnout was recorded in Gund Manglapur constituency. Here the poll percentage was nearly 49 percent by 1 pm.
There was no report of any violence during the ongoing polling so far.
This year the result of the Council polls is perceived by many as a referendum that if people of Kargil have accepted the decisions of August 5, 2019 by the union government.
