Ladakh activists seek to postpone December 4 council polls citing harsh winters

Led by Sonam Wangchuk, leaders of the Leh Apex Body and Kargil Democratic Alliance urged the Centre to postpone the elections for maximum voter participation.

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Ladakh activist groups on Wednesday appealed to President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah and leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi to help defer the December 4 elections to the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (LAHDC) citing harsh winters and large-scale migration.

Led by climate and social activist Sonam Wangchuk, leaders of the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) urged the central leadership to postpone the elections for maximum voter participation.

Addressing the media, Wangchuk said, “December and January are the coldest and snowiest months in Ladakh... with temperatures dipping below -30°C in many places and nearly half the population migrating out of Ladakh for education, vacation, and pilgrimage,” he said.

Later, Ladakh Police removed Wangchuk from the protest site. “Sonam Wangchuk has been advised to stay at his residence in view of the prohibitory orders issued by the Chief Electoral Officer, UT Ladakh, and the District Magistrate, Leh,” Ladakh DGP, Anand Jain, posted on X.

Also Read I Ladakh impasse must be resolved quickly

Ladakh MP Haneefa Jan wrote to Shah. “Today, I submitted a representation to the home minister, seeking postponement of proposed LAHDC elections...,” he said.

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  A principal correspondent, Ravi Krishnan Khajuria is the bureau chief at Jammu. With nearly 25 years of experience with Hindustan Times, The Tribune and Kashmir Times, he covers politics, defence, crime, terrorism, Indo-Pak border skirmishes, legislative assembly proceedings, health and civic and environmental issues for Jammu region. He also reports geo-political developments from strategic Ladakh region.Read More

• Mir Ehsan has reported from Kashmir for the past more than 20 years. He is an assistant editor and bureau chief of HT in Kashmir since 2018. Before that he was associated with Indian Express. He has extensively covered Kashmir politics, militancy and developmental issues. He is also a recipient of Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award in 2005.Read More