NC will hand over Kargil council reins to Congress, Farooq Abdullah says after ‘feud’

SRINAGAR: National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah said Tuesday his enactment would manus implicit chairmanship of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council-Kargil (LAHDC-K) to Congress successful enactment with a 2023 knowing betwixt the allies, moving to defuse a situation sparked by the existent chief’s refusal to measurement aside.“We are handing it (chairmanship of the council) implicit to Congress,” Farooq told TOI.Strains deepened implicit the past 2 weeks aft Congress accused NC’s Mohd Jaffer Akhoon, LAHDC-K’s existent CEO, of refusing to discontinue adjacent aft completing the word of two-and-a-half years agreed betwixt the allies aft 2023 polls to the council. Akhoon had cited administrative fallouts from instauration of 5 caller districts successful the Union territory precocious arsenic the crushed not to measurement down.NC had emerged arsenic the azygous largest enactment successful the Oct 2023 elections with 12 seats successful the 30-member council. Congress had won 10. The allies unneurotic commanded 22 seats, six much than the majority. BJP bagged 2 seats.Amid the tensions, Asgar Ali Karbalai, Congress’s Ladakh chief, had shrugged disconnected reports of discord, insisting determination were nary differences betwixt the allies implicit the council. He said the chief’s rotational statement would clasp successful enactment with the 2023 pact and the alteration would beryllium formalised soon.

Mohmad Haneefa, the NC-supported Ladakh MP, had besides intervened successful the tussle, stressing the assembly was unchangeable and interior issues were being resolved.The 2023 polls were politically important arsenic they were held aft removal of Article 370 successful Aug 2019 and enactment of Ladakh and J&K arsenic 2 Union territories (UT). NC vice-president and J&K main curate Omar Abdullah had expressed gratitude to Congress for its “unwavering support” and thanked the radical of Kargil for backing the alliance.Ladakh UT has 2 elevation councils -- LAHDC-K and Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council-Leh (LAHDC-L). The Leh assembly was established successful 1995 and the 1 for Kargil successful 2003.The Centre had approved 5 caller Ladakh districts successful Aug 2024. Lieutenant-governor Vinai Kumar Saxena notified them connected April 26 this year, taking the full to seven. The caller districts are Sham, Nubra, Changthang successful Leh, and Zanskar and Drass successful Kargil. It is not wide if these volition travel nether the Kargil and Leh councils oregon whether they volition person abstracted bodies.