Srinagar: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Tashi Gyalson on Saturday was unanimously elected as the Chief Executive Councillor (CEC) of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) of Leh.
"I thank people for reposing trust in the BJP. I assure you that in the coming days you will come to see a better hill council. We will be nominating the executive councillors shortly. And the future course of action will be decided after that,” Gyalson, who became Ladakh Union Territory's first LAHDC - Leh chairman, said after the swearing-in ceremony in Leh.
Promising that the people will see a 'new Ladakh' soon, he said that there will be 'new challenges' in the union territory.
"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 asserted.
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In the 6th LAHDC- Leh elections, the BJP had won 15 out of 26 seats while the Congress had won nine seats and two went to the independent candidates. Despite campaigning by four union ministers, the BJP failed to perform on the expected lines.
The BJP had won 18 seats in 2015 but this year it could manage only 15. On the other hand, Congress who had won only five seats in 2015 still managed to win four more seats without any star campaigner of the party.
The LAHDC elections had recorded a turnout of 65.7 per cent. Interestingly, the regional parties National Conference (NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had stayed away from the elections while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) fielded 19 candidates. However, the AAP couldn't win a single seat.
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