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Ladakh front's nominee is sole candidate in Nobra

The ruling National Conference in Jammu & Kashmir is finding the ground fast slipping from under its feet in the cold desert region of Ladakh.

The party got its first jolt on Thursday when Sonam Wangchuk Narboo of the Union Territory Front became the only candidate to file his nomination from the Nobra constituency.

If his papers are found to be in order on scrutiny, which is to take place on September 1, he will become the first person to be elected unopposed to the new legislative assembly.

The UTF was floated recently by the Ladakh Buddhist Association to press for Union territory status for the region. The Buddhists believe that Ladakh is being discriminated against by the National Conference, which has its political base in the Kashmir valley.

The second jolt for the ruling party came when the Muslim Coordination Committee of Leh decided at a meeting on Thursday not to field any candidate against the UTF's Nawang Rigzin. The committee decided that Ahmadullah Azad, the only Muslim candidate in Leh, would also withdraw his nomination for the sake of Ladakh's unity and to maintain communal harmony.

Thus, the National Conference, despite its best efforts, could not field a candidate in the two constituencies of Leh district.

But more shocks were in store for the party in Kargil, the other district of the Ladakh region. In Kargil town, the National Conference is facing stiff opposition from local Muslims, who are supporting an independent candidate this time. Two organisations, the Imam Khomeini Trust and the Islamia School, have opposed its nominee, Qamar Ali Akhoon, though Ghulam Hassan Khan of the National Conference represents Kargil in Parliament.

The two assembly constituencies in Kargil were seen until recently as National Conference bastions, even though the district is a part of Ladakh. But now it appears that Muslims and Buddhists across the region have joined hands against the ruling party.

"Only a mood change can lead to the NC winning a seat in Kargil," a senior party leader said. "We have lost both seats in Leh district and now we are trying to retain at least one in Kargil."

The party will discuss the matter at its next meeting.

Jammu and Kashmir Elections 2002: The complete coverage

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