The National Conference and the BJP on Saturday expressed confidence of a good performance in the Ladakh-Kargil Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) elections, a day before the results are declared.
Elections for 26 seats on the 30-member Mountain Council were held earlier this week. Four voting councilors are nominated by the administration.
It was the first vote in Kargil since the abrogation of Article 370 and the creation of the Union Territory of Ladakh in August 2019.
NC and Congress had announced a pre-election alliance but fielded 17 and 22 candidates respectively. Both sides said the agreement was limited to areas where there was tough competition with the BJP.
The BJP, which won one seat in the last election and later increased its tally to three with the addition of two councilors from the PDP, has fielded 17 candidates this time.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) tried its luck from four seats while 25 independents also entered the fray.
NK, who led the previous council, said the party was confident it would do well.
“We are hopeful and we are sure that our voters came out in large numbers and voted in our favour,” Mohammad Amin, the NC candidate from Payen constituency, told PTI here.
Amin said the party hopes to win 15 seats.
The BJP, which has staked its bets on the creation of a separate UT for Ladakh and development works, said it hoped the party would do well.
“It was an important election because after Ladakh was separated from JK on August 5, 2019, it had to see development at the grassroots level. We are expecting people’s support for BJP and tomorrow’s results will show how far Ladakh has progressed in terms of development, said Ghulam Hassan Pasha, media in-charge, BJP, Ladakh and candidate.
“We hope and expect to get an absolute majority,” he said.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is contesting the elections for the first time, has expressed hope that people will support its policies.
Over 77 percent was the voter turnout in the elections, in which electronic voting machines were used for the first time.
Out of a total of 95,388 voters, 74,026 exercised their right to vote in 278 polling stations.
The LAHDC-Kargil elections were rescheduled from September 10 to October 4 on the directions of the Supreme Court.
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