Decode Politics: What lies beneath en masse exit of NC’s Kargil leaders?

The entire Kargil unit of the National Conference (NC) has resigned, citing pressure from the party leadership to support the INDIA bloc candidate for the Ladakh Lok Sabha constituency, which votes on May 20.

Underlying this move is a yearning for representation in Kargil, which feels ignored as the INDIA bloc chooses a candidate from Leh again for the Ladakh ticket.

As part of the seat-sharing agreement between the NC and Congress, Ladakh has gone to the Congress, which nominated Tsering Namgyal. However, a day prior, the Kargil units of both parties had announced NC district president Haji Mohammad Hanifa Jan as a consensus candidate.

This led to speculation of another fracture in the INDIA bloc, after the NC and PDP went their separate ways in Kashmir, with both fielding candidates for the three seats in the Valley. However, NC president Farooq Abdullah issued a whip to the party’s Ladakh chapter directing them to support the Congress candidate, Namgyal.

Hours later, NC additional general secretary Qamar Ali Akhoon held a press cofnanference announcing the en masse resignation of the party’s Kargil unit, and support for Hanifa Jan.

In a letter to Farooq, Akhoon stated, “As the party insists we act against the interest of the people… we are compelled to resign… This letter may be considered the mass resignation of all party functionaries from the primary membership of the J&K National Conference.”

What lies at the heart of the NC Kargil unit’s protest?

In the last five general elections since 1999, the Ladakh Lok Sabha seat has been represented by candidates from the NC, once by Independent candidate Thupstan Chhewang, who is now associated with the BJP, and more recently by the BJP’s Jamyang Tsering Namgyal. Four of the