LADAKH, Occupied Kashmir (Kashmir English): Political uncertainty has deepened in Ladakh region of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) after the term of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Leh, expired on October 30, leaving the region without any elected local body.
According to Kashmir Media Service, residents and political leaders have demanded that the occupation authorities conduct fresh elections without delay, warning that the region has been left in a “democratic void.”
According to official orders, the administration has assigned Leh Deputy Commissioner Romil Singh Donk to manage the Council’s affairs following the expiry of its five-year term.
The so-called “Union Territory” administration has deferred elections as BJP fears an electoral setback due to the prevailing anger in the region. Local leaders, however, have rejected the delay.
Former councilor Konchok Stanzin from Chushul constituency said the people of Leh have been deprived of any representative governance. “There is no elected institution left — the terms of panchayats and municipalities also ended years ago. The administration is running everything unilaterally,” he said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which previously ruled the Hill Council, is facing public backlash, particularly after the killing of four youths during the September 24 protest demanding statehood.
Stanzin alleged that the BJP fears an electoral setback if polls are held soon. “The party is reluctant to face the people because of its failed promises,” he said.
Meanwhile, Cherring Dorjay Lakruk, co-chairman of the Leh Apex Body (LAB), said that the group would raise the issue of delayed elections with India’s Ministry of Home Affairs in the next meeting of the so-called “high-powered committee.” “The Hill Council is a democratic institution. Currently, we have only one elected representative — the MP — for the entire Ladakh region. The MHA must ensure early elections to restore public trust,” he said.
Ladakh stands entirely under bureaucratic control
The deferment of elections in Leh highlights the erosion of democratic institutions in the Indian-occupied region since the 2019 revocation of Article 370. With both panchayats and municipal bodies defunct, and now the Hill Council dissolved, Ladakh stands entirely under bureaucratic control.
Political observers say New Delhi’s continued delay in holding elections exposes its fear of local resistance to its unilateral decisions, particularly demands for statehood and Sixth Schedule safeguards.
