Kargil migrant voters flood back as discontent is palpable

The return of Kargil’s migrant population, comprising over 6,000 students and hundreds of professionals, for elections, spiked voter turnout to a record 78% in the fifth Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council-Kargil (LAHDC-K) polls on Wednesday.

ALSO READ

Kargil sees first post-370 polls; big stakes for BJP, Congress, NC

The LAHDC-K polls saw an 8% increase in voting percentage compared to 70% during the 2018 council election. This was made possible by families like that of Muzaffar Ali from Kaksar village. “My son, a soldier posted in New Delhi and my cousin, a CRPF jawan in Assam, returned to Kargil for the polls like many others in my village Kaksar,” Muzaffar Ali said. “It was an important election and they could not have missed it,” he added.

Locals return to vote

He said 60 locals, who live outside Ladakh, returned to cast their votes. “Around 23 eligible members from my family cast their votes,” Mr. Ali said.

Muhammad Hamza, a tour operator settled in New Delhi with his wife and kids, said he rushed back home to cast his vote. “Kargil lags on several development fronts. Despite having a tourism potential, it is yet to capitalize on it. We need a strong council to work for people. I came for polls to elect the right candidate,” Mr. Hamza said.

A significant section of Kargil either works or studies outside Ladakh due to poor job opportunities here and lack of professional colleges. Around 7,000 students from Kargil study in several colleges spread across the country, according to locals.

Ashgar Ali, a student in a college in Punjab, said he reached Jammu earlier last week. “I boarded a bus along with hundreds of other students in Jammu,” Mr. Ali said.

Party sources said hundreds of buses were arranged by the National Conference (NC) to get back at least 65-70% of the student community before the poll dates. “We did not want to leave anything to chance. The NC-Congress combine has to win maximum seats and defeat the BJP,” a senior NC leader said.

Fida Hussian, whose 78-year-old father was ailing and was scheduled to get admitted in a Srinagar hospital in the last week of September, decided against it so that the entire family could cast their votes. “We requested the doctors to give us fresh dates for his admission in the hospital later in October,” he said.  

The polls are a direct contest between the BJP and National Conference-Congress combine for the 26-member hill council. Kargil has a population of 1.08 lakh and around 65,878 eligible voters.