'Bharat Jodo Yatra impact': Congress on Ladakh council election win

With the Congress winning several seats in the elections to the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Kargil, the party said it is a direct impact of Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh also took a swipe at the media saying "the national media will blank it out, but trends coming in show Congress leading convincingly in the elections to the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Kargil with an almost complete wipeout of the BJP." "This is a direct impact of Rahul Gandhi continuing Bharat Jodo Yatra in Ladakh last month," Ramesh said in a post on X.

Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal said the party has registered a resounding victory in the Ladakh hill council elections after 10 years.

"Along with our INDIA partner National Conference, we have swept the entire region in its first election after the abrogation of Art. 370.

"Rahul Gandhi ji's Bharat Jodo Yatra last month across the region has given people of Ladakh and Kargil the faith that the Congress and INDIA have a deep concern about the issues they face, and the need for their democratic sentiments to be given a voice," he said on X.

"Congratulations to all victorious candidates," Venugopal said, adding "I am confident this will usher a new democratic dawn in Ladakh and Kargil".

Another Congress leader P Chidambaram said the LAHDC poll result is a "resounding victory for I.N.D.I.A. and a crushing defeat for the BJP".

"The results show that the people have totally repudiated the misguided agenda of the BJP, the revocation of Art. 370 and the creation of Union Territories out of a State. "If elections are held in the Kashmir valley, the results will not be different," he said.

Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate also said the people of Ladakh-Kargil have spoken decisively. "A resounding mandate for us in the Ladakh-Kargil Autonomous Hill Council elections - the first electoral exercise since abolition of Art 370.

"In August Rahul Gandhi ji's Bharat Jodo Yatra all across Leh-Ladakh met and assured the people of the region that their voices matter," she said.

The National Conference and the Congress together won 22 seats in the LAHDC polls, officials said on Sunday.

The elections to the LAHDC-Kargil was the first poll to be held after Ladakh was carved out as a Union territory following the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution.

Twenty-six seats of the council went to polls on October 4. The administration nominates four members with voting rights to the 30-member council.

According to the officials, the National Conference (NC) won 12 seats, making it the single largest party, while its ally Congress registered victory in 10. The BJP won two seats, while two independent candidates also registered victory, they said.

The existing council headed by the NC's Feroz Ahmad Khan completed its five-year term on October 1. The new council will be in place before October 11.

Also watch: Congress-NC alliance bags 22 out of 26 seats in Ladakh council polls