Ladakh 26 October (KNB): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won 15 seats and Congress wins 9 seats, while Independent candidates bagged 2 seats out of 26 seats in the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC).
The voting had stated on 22 October, and as many as 94 candidates contested which include 26 each from BJP and Congress, 19 from Aam Admi Party and 23 other independent candidates.
The counting of votes started at the Amphitheatre of SSK, Tisuru, Leh around 9 am which revealed that BJP has won seats in Turtik, Hundar, Diskit, Tegar, Panamik, Tangtse among others while an independent seat was won in Chushul.
Officials stated that an electorate of 89,776, including 45025 women, exercised their franchise in 294 polling stations spread over 26 constituencies across Leh district to seal the fate of 94 candidates including 26 each of the BJP and Congress.
Regional parties including National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had chosen to stay away from the election.
LAHDC-Leh has a total of 30 seats and the government nominates four councilors.
Besides the Congress and BJP, the Aam Admi Party (AAP) also for the first time fielded 19 candidates, while the rest of the 23 contestants are independents.
Kargil district of Ladakh had a separate hill council, which was elected in 2018 for a five-year term. (KNB)