Amid unrest triggered recently on account of political demands ,Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) Leh is all set to miss the timely elections scheduled this month and delay would push the polls to April as Ladakh experiences extreme chill from November to March making the weather impossible for undertaking any kind of electoral exercise.
Even as the situation is gradually returning to normal post September 24 violence in which four civilians were killed and 90 others including 30 police and CRPF personnel were injured, the election process is nowhere in sight as term of the Hill Council, presently ruled by the BJP, is scheduled to expire on November 2.
In the normal course if elections were to be held, the notification was required to be issued between September 20 and 25 to conduct polls around October 27-28 and complete entire exercise by November 1 so that new Council was in place in time. However, the timeline has lapsed and there has been no effort by the Union Territory administration of Ladakh to undertake the exercise.
Moreover, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had announced five new districts for Ladakh in August 2024 and 33 percent reservation for women in Leh and Kargil Hill Development Councils in December 2024. The districts are yet to be formally created with their headquarters, boundaries etc while 33 percent seats to be reserved in the Councils haven’t been identified so far.
Officials are of the view that elections in Leh were possible only in October or start of November as thereafter heavy snowfall and extreme cold weather starts in entire Ladakh and lasts till March-April making electoral exercise possible only by the end of April.
However, there has been a provision in the Hill Council Constitution for delay in elections by six months. During the period, either term of the Council can be extended or powers can be given to the concerned Deputy Commissioner.
“With no chance of timely elections to the Hill Council now, the Union Territory administration of Ladakh has to take a call in consultations with the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on whether to extend term of the Council or accord powers to the Deputy Commissioner beyond November 2, 2025 when five-year term of the Council will expire.The BJP has been in power in the Leh Hill Development Council for second consecutive term. It came to power for the first time in 2015 and retained power in 2020 with majority. Prior to that, the Hill Council was mostly ruled by the Congress.
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