Ladakh Lok Sabha Election 2024: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has dropped its sitting Ladakh MP Jamyang Tsering Namgyal and fielded Tashi Gyalson in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Polling in Ladakh will take place in the fifth phase on May 20.
In 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Jamyang Tsering Namgyal defeated independent candidate Sajjad Hussain by a margin of 10,930 votes.
In the forthcoming election, Congress, which is part of the I.N.D.I.A bloc, has not announced its candidate so far. The BJP's decision to drop Namgyal comes amid resentment towards the ruling party among a section of Buddhists in Leh.
The local sources said Gyalson, who is also a lawyer, is in a better position to maintain the BJP's hold over the seat, which also includes Muslim-majority Kargil.
Gyalson is the chairman-cum-chief executive councillor of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council in Leh. Namgyal had hit the headlines in 2019 with his viral speech in Lok Sabha to defend the Narendra Modi government’s decision to repeal Article 370 and making Ladakh as a separate Union Territory.
Polling is scheduled for May 20 in the constituency. The results of the seven-phased elections will be declared on June 4.
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