Tashi Gyalson elected LAHDC Leh chairman, promises ‘new Ladakh’

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Srinagar: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Tashi Gyalson was unanimously elected the Chief Executive Councillor (CEC) of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Leh on Saturday.

Gyalson, who became the first LAHDC, Leh CEC/ chairman after Ladakh was made a union territory, said executive councillors of the body will be nominated soon.

“I thank people for reposing trust in the BJP. I want to assure you that in the coming days you will come to see a good hill council. As I assumed chair today only, we will be nominating the executive councillors shortly. Then, we will sit and decide the future course of action,” Gyalson told reporters after the swearing-in ceremony in Leh.

He said there will be ‘new challenges’ in the union territory while promising that the people will see a ‘new Ladakh’ in the coming days.

“Ladakh is not a district anymore but a union territory and there are new challenges. We have to establish a new council and this is the first council after Ladakh became a UT. All councillors will work hard and you can hope to see a new Ladakh. In the next five years, you will see new changes,” he said.

The BJP had won 15 out of 26 seats in the 6th LAHDC, Leh elections. The Congress had won nine seats and two were bagged by the independents.

However, despite heavy campaigning that saw visits of four union ministers to Ladakh, the BJP got a lesser number of seats as compared to its performance in the last LAHDC elections in October, 2015. The BJP had won 18 seats in 2015.

On the contrary, Congress had only won five seats in 2015. Even as no star campaigner from the party visited Ladakh during the campaign this year, the Congress still managed to win four more seats.

The LAHDC, Leh elections had recorded a turnout of 65.7 per cent.

The regional parties National Conference (NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had stayed away from the electoral process but interestingly the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) fielded 19 candidates. However, the AAP did not win any seat.

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