Haneefa Jan leads in Ladakh Lok Sabha race

LEH — Independent candidate Mohmad Haneefa has established a lead of over 28,000 votes over his nearest Congress rival from the Ladakh Lok Sabha constituency, according to the Election Commission trends.

Haneefa has got 60,365 votes so far as against Congress candidate Tsering Namgyal who got 32,195 votes and BJP’s Tashi Gyalson who bagged 24,953 votes.

The BJP won the seat in the 2014 general elections and retained it in 2019. The Congress has won the seat the maximum number of times — six.

Haneefa, a former National Conference leader, quit the party along with its entire Kargil unit to contest as an Independent, after the Congress fielded Namgyal as the INDIA bloc candidate. He is the lone candidate from the Shia Muslim-dominated Kargil region.

This is the first major electoral battle in the region after it was carved out of Jammu and Kashmir and granted Union territory status in 2019.