Tsering Namgyal chosen as Congress candidate from Ladakh

Leh and Kargil districts had pitched their own candidates for the Ladakh seat ahead of the polls

Congress candidate from Ladakh Lok Sabha constituency Tsering Namgyal files his nomination on May 2, 2024. | Photo Credit: ANI videograb

The Congress on Thursday picked Tsering Namgyal as the candidate for the Ladakh seat for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The party was torn between Muslim-majority Kargil district and Buddhist-majority Leh district of the Ladakh Lok Sabha constituency, with each district pitching for its own candidate ahead of the polls. 

The Congress unit of Leh had put forth the name of Tsering Namgyal as the party candidate a day after the Kargil unit of Congress backed Haji Hanifa Jan as “a consensus candidate”. Mr. Jan is a district president of the National Conference (NC).

Congress candidate Tsering Namgyal files nomination from Ladakh

In Leh, senior Congress leader Nawang Rigzin Jora termed the Congress unit’s move in Kargil as “a decision made locally”. “It’s not supported by Leh,” Mr. Jora said. Senior Congress leader Nasir Munshi, who is in Delhi, has suggested that Mr. Jan is “a joint candidate” of the INDIA bloc. 

Ladakh was carved out as a Union Territory in 2019 from the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir. The constituency, with 1,82,571 voters, will witness its first ever Lok Sabha polls as a Union Territory this time.

(With inputs from PTI)