Mass Resignation Hits National Conference Over INDIA Bloc's Ladakh Pick

Leaders of the National Conference’s Kargil unit have resigned (Representational)

Srinagar:

National Conference leaders of the party’s Kargil unit resigned en masse in Ladakh today over the choice of the INDIA block candidate in the region.

The party leaders submitted their resignations to party president Farooq Abdullah after they were allegedly pressured by the party’s high command to support the Congress’s candidate Tsering Namgyal.

The mass resignation came hours after Farooq Abdullah warned party leaders in Kargil of disciplinary action if they failed to abide by the party’s decision to support INDIA block candidate Tsering Namgyal.

“NC President Dr Farooq Abdullah has directed the Kargil unit of the party to support the INDIA bloc candidate – T Namgyal in the Lok Sabha election for the Ladakh seat. He has told his colleagues that failure to follow this directive will be seen as a serious breach of party discipline” the party posted on X.

Congress leaders in Kargil have already raised a banner of revolt against the party over the choice of the candidate.

The rebel leaders of the NC and the Congress have fielded a candidate backed by all the religious and social groups of Kargil.

Behind the controversy is an old political rivalry between Muslim-majority Kargil and Buddhist-majority Leh districts of Ladakh.

As the Congress declared Tsering Namgyal as its official candidate, Congress and NC leaders in Kargil opposed the move and declared Haji Haneefa Jan as their candidate.

Mr Jan is the district president of the National Conference in Kargil and was chosen as a consensus candidate by the local leadership of both the Congress and the NC.

Islamia School and the Khumaini Trust – the two powerful socio-religious institutions of Kargil – backed Mr Jan and ensured no other candidate from Kargil was contesting to avoid a split of votes.

Ladakh will vote on May 20 to elect the lone MP from the Union Territory. These are the first elections in Ladakh since the abrogation of Article 370 split the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories – Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Votes will be counted on June 4.