2023 Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Kargil election

Elections were held in October 2023 for the 26 seats of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Kargil. This was also the first election conducted in the union territory of Ladakh since its split from Jammu and Kashmir in 2019.

The Indian National Congress and Jammu & Kashmir National Conference contested the elections under the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance. The NC-Congress alliance won 22 seats in a landslide whereas the BJP won only 2 seats.

Background
There were 74,026 voters including 46,762 women, who exercise their franchises through EVMs in 278 polling stations across the Kargil. Totally 85 candidates were in the fray. The voter turnout was 78%, which was an increase of 8% from the 2018 council Election, mainly due to the returning of Kargil’s migrant population for the election.

Out of 26 seats, 23 are Muslim majority seats and three are Buddhist majority seats. The Imam Khomeini Memorial Trust and Anjuman Jamiatul Ulama Islamia School-Kargil are the main Shite seminaries in Kargil. The Imam Khomeini Memorial Trust extended its support to the Indian National Congress and the Anjuman Jamiatul Ulama Islamia School-Kargil is rooting for the Jammu & Kashmir National Conferences. The Bharatiya Janata Party had earlier promised district status to the Buddhist majority Zanskar tehsil but failed to deliver the promise and is facing resentment from people in Buddhist majority seats like Karsha and Padun which are part of Zanskar. Samanla Dorje, a Buddhist Congress leader has also said "People can no more be fooled by the promise of district status to Zanskar,”.

Schedule
Election Department, Ladakh has announced the schedule to conduct the election for Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Kargil on 9 September 2023:

Also see

 * 2023 elections in India
 * Ladakh Lok Sabha constituency