NC- Congress combine locked in direct contest
Tasaduq Hussain
Srinagar, Oct 04 :
A voter turnout of 77.61 was recorded in the high-stakes electoral battle of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council-Kargil on Wednesday.
As per details available with the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), 74026 votes were polled in the election today in which NC- Congress combine are locked in a direct fight with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The highest voter turnout was recorded in Bimbhat seat (4468) followed by Shargole (3768) and Ranbirpora (3760).
A total of 85 candidates are in the fray for 26 seats of the Council, which is the highest elected body for the region. NC and Congress have joined hands to keep the BJP away from power. BJP has fielded its candidates on 17 seats.
Interestingly, top leaders of Congress, National Conference and BJP campaigned for their parties.
Senior Congress leader and MP Rahul Gandhi, former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Union Minister of State Meenakshi Lekhi, Tarun Chugh and Jamayang Namgayal canvassed for their party candidates.
This was the first election in Kargil after August 5, 2019 when Centre read down Article 370 and reorganized the erstwhile state into two UTs—(KNO)