Srinagar, May 6 (IANS): In a major setback to the National Conference (NC), its entire unit in Ladakh's Kargil resigned en masse from the party over its decision to support the Congress candidate in the UT's sole Lok Sabha seat.

In a letter addressed to NC President, Dr Farooq Abdullah, NC's Additional General Secretary for the Ladakh UT, Qamar Ali Akhoon has conveyed the decision of the Kargil unit to quit in the greater interest of the Ladakh region.

The differences between the NC high command and its Kargil unit stem from the disagreement of the Kargil NC leaders over the party’s decision to support Congress candidate, Tsering Namgayal for the Lok Sabha seat.

The local NC unit has fielded Haji Hanifa Jan as an Independent candidate. Following the support of both powerful local religious organisations, namely the Imam Khomeini Memorial Trust and the Islamia School to Haji Hanifa Jan, Sajjad Kargili, the NC candidate who finished second in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections against the BJP candidate and had entered the fray as an Independent candidate, withdrew in support of Haji Hanifa Jan.

Haji Hanifa Jan has been part of the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), which together with the Ladakh Apex Body (LAB) has been part of the 4-year-long agitation in Ladakh region for statehood, inclusion of Ladakh in the 6th Schedule of the Constitution and creation of two Lok Sabha seats, one for Leh district and the other for Kargil district.

The BJP has this time fielded Tashi Gyalson for the Ladakh Lok Sabha seat, dropping sitting MP Jamyang Tsering Namgyal.