Ladakh: BJP caught in dilemma over re-nominating sitting MP

Local leadership wary of ‘negative fallout’ amid swelling protests for 6th Schedule, Statehood

Jammu: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is apparently caught in a cleft stick on whether it should repeat its sitting Lok Sabha member from Ladakh, Jamyang Tsering Namgyal, from the seat after the agitating groups announced to intensify their agitation while accusing the BJP-led government at the Centre of “betrayal and unkept promises”.
Backed by Leh Apex Body (LAB), the climate activist-cum-education reformist Sonam Wangchuk, who ended his 21-day-long hunger strike on March 26, has called for a “Border March” on April 7 to “expose the Chinese intrusions” in Ladakh—a well-calculated political move to corner the BJP in the current Lok Sabha polls as the party (BJP) had been claiming that “no land has been encroached or taken away by Chinese in Ladakh”
If party insiders are to be believed, the local leaders of the BJP in Ladakh are wary and apprehensive of the “potential backlash” of the decision to nominate the sitting Lok Sabha member again as the resentment has brewed against the Saffron party in the region after the talks between Ladakhi leaders and Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) over two key demands—Statehood to Ladakh and its inclusion in the Sixth Schedule of Constitution--ended in deadlock on March 4.
“The local leadership of the party has failed to quell protests in the region despite the fact that the BJP fulfilled the decades-long demand of Ladakhi people for granting UT status to the region. Local leaders, including the sitting Member of Parliament, have remained conspicuous by their absence from taking any "initiative to convince the protestors"
that the party is committed to safeguarding the interests of Ladakhi people,” insiders said.
Unconfirmed reports suggested that the party's high command has held discussions on the names of two to three local leaders of the party in order to finalise the candidature for lone Lok Sabha seat in the region. “There is a strong possibility that the party high command may field a fresh candidate for the current Lok Sabha polls,” the reports said.
Wangchuk while cornering the BJP government at the Centre said, “In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, they (Centre) promised that Ladakh would be safeguarded under the Sixth Schedule, and this was their top agenda. Months after that, they went silent. Years after that, they started disliking us for reminding them about it... We are only seeking that. Is that anti-national?”
As reported earlier, the poll promise to declare Ladakh as a tribal area under Sixth Schedule of the Constitution has turned into a major challenge for the BJP in the region, with opposition parties leveraging the party’s election manifestos released during the 2019 parliamentary elections and 2020 Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) Leh poll to mount pressure on the Saffron party in the current of Lok Sabha polls.
“The BJP has been facing intense political pressure from various religious, social and political groups, evident from its delay in finalizing its candidate for Ladakh, which it won consecutively in the 2014 and 2019 elections. The sitting Lok Sabha member, Namgyal shot to fame through his fiery and impressive speech in Parliament following the abrogation of Article 370 but he has somewhere found it difficult to connect with masses after surging protests in the region,” insiders said.
Pertinently, protesting groups as well as Sonam Wangchuk have been using the BJP’s 2019 Lok Sabha and the 2020 LAHDC election manifestos as “political ammunition” against the party, accusing it of “betraying” the people of Ladakh. Both the election manifestos of the BJP have been circulated among the people of Ladakh, both physically and through social media, to exert more pressure on the party.
In the BJP’s election manifesto for Ladakh Constituency for 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the party, at point number three, had promised “declaration of Ladakh under Sixth Schedule of Indian Constitution (Tribal Area)”.
After winning the sole Lok Sabha seat in the region, the party reiterated its commitment, during the 2020 LAHDC Leh elections, to implement the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, stating, “Aspirations and vision of Ladakhis from all spheres of life are kept in mind, including the prime demand of Ladakhis for safeguards under the provision of 6th Schedule”.
The BJP won the Ladakh Parliamentary seat for two successive Lok Sabha elections. In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, veteran politician ThupstanChhewang had won this seat as BJP candidate by a margin of only 36 votes. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP candidate Jamyang Tsering Namgyal, who was then sitting Chairman-cum-CEC of LAHDC Leh recorded an impressive victory margin of 10,930 votes over NC, PDP, and Islamiya School Kargil joint candidate, Sajjad Kargili. Namgayal polled 42,914 votes as against Sajjad Karigili’s 31984.
Two other candidates in the fray in Ladakh were Haji Asgar Karbalaie, former Congress MLA from Kargil, and Rigzin Spalbar (Congress) finished third and fourth with 29365 and 21241 votes respectively. Karbalaie had contested the election as an Independent.

Updated On 3/29/2024 2:56:13 AM