Tasaduq Hussain
Srinagar, July 25 : Ahead of election for Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Leh, Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Admi Party(AAP) is trying to gain foothold in the region and has begun massive campaign to rope in new faces.
In a development that has taken many by surprise, AAP is gearing up to fight Leh Hill Council polls likely to be held in October this year.
“Lot of people are joining us. Our campaign is evoking huge response in the region,” Rajesh Sharma, AAP’s co-in-charge for Ladakh and Kashmir told news agency.
He said they are gearing up to fight the upcoming Hill Council polls. “We are setting up teams at village –level to prepare for the polls,” he said, adding that people of Ladakh region want alternative as they are “fed up of BJP and Congress”.
He said “there is widespread resentment against ruling BJP in Ladakh region and everyone there is inspired by the Delhi model of development and a corruption free system”.
In a boost to AAP, former inspector general of police (IGP) Tsering Phunsong and a few other prominent faces have joined the party in the past few days.
The AAP is trying to gain foothold in the region when there is “anti-incumbency” wave against ruling BJP in the region.
BJP’ s Ram Madhav had recently visited the region to woo back Chering Dorjey, who had resigned as party’s Ladakh unit head.
In the last Hill Council election, BJP had won 18 out of 26 seats while Congress and National Conference bagged five and two seats respectively.
It would be interesting to watch whether Kashmir-based National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party would put up candidates in the Hill Council election after re-organisation of Jammu & Kashmir into two Union Territories—(KNO)
