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Independent candidate Haji Hanifa Jan wins Ladakh Lok Sabha seat
NC’s Kargil unit resigned en masse to support Jan after Tsering Namgyal (Congress) was fielded as the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) candidate
Independent candidate Haji Hanifa Jan on Tuesday won the Ladakh Lok Sabha seat defeating Congress’s Tsering Namgyal. Tashi Gyalson of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which won the seat in 2014 and 2019, finished third.
Jan, a former Kargil district chief of National Conference (NC), secured 65,259 votes (48.15%) Namgyal 37,397 (27.59%), and Gyalson 31,956 (23.58%). NC’s Kargil unit resigned en masse to support Jan after Namgyal was fielded as the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) candidate.
NC leader Omar Abdullah congratulated Hanifa Jan. “To @HajiHanifa I’m really very happy for you today. A few months ago, you tasted defeat in the hill council elections & now you will represent Ladakh, especially the marginalised people of Kargil in the Lok Sabha. Your victory cost @JKNC_ its Kargil unit but it was well worth the price.”
The BJP dropped Tsering Namgyal and gave the ticket to Gyalson amid anger in the region over the party’s failure to ensure safeguards under the Constitution’s Sixth Schedule, which provides for the autonomous administration of tribal areas, and statehood for Ladakh. Protracted protests over the Sixth Schedule implementation and statehood rocked the region for 66 days this year.
