The BJP on Tuesday dropped its sitting MP Jamyang Tsering Namgyal and named Tashi Gyalson as the party’s candidate for the upcoming Ladakh Lok Sabha election after having failed to properly handle the long-stretched agitation in support of the Sixth Schedule for Ladakh. Gyalson is the chairman of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Leh, and, as such, enjoys the status of a cabinet minister.

The refusal to grant the Sixth Schedule status to Ladakh has annoyed the majority of Buddhists in Leh and Shia Muslims in Kargil, leading to growing discontent with the BJP government.

The Union Territory of Ladakh has only one Lok Sabha seat.

The BJP’s decision to drop the young sitting MP, Namgyal, has come as a surprise to the party activists. However, a senior partyman said that the party high command was unhappy with Namgyal’s failure to properly counter the agitation led jointly by the Leh Apex Body and the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) in support of the Sixth Schedule status and statehood for Ladakh. The agitation culminated in a 21-day hunger strike by Ladakhi climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, which garnered widespread public support and proved to be an embarrassment for the government.

Expressing annoyance over the denial of BJP ticket, Namgyal wrote on social media: “Today, the BJP announced a new candidate for the Ladakh Parliamentary Constituency, replacing the sitting MP without providing transparent and compelling justification. I have communicated my disagreement to the party leadership through proper channels regarding this injustice to a dedicated Karyakarta. Hundreds of BJP activists and my supporters from across Ladakh have also voiced their disapproval with this decision. We will carefully evaluate the situation and determine our next course of action, keeping the well-being of the people of Ladakh at the forefront. I extend heartfelt gratitude to all supporters for their steadfast backing”.

Polling in Ladakh will take place in the fifth phase on 20 May. Namgyal had defeated independent candidate Sajad Hussain with a margin of 10,930 votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha election.

The Congress, which is a partner of the INDIA bloc, is yet to announce its candidate for Ladakh.

Namgyal came to the limelight in 2019 for his viral speech in the Lok Sabha to defend the Modi government’s decision to repeal Article 370 and make Ladakh a separate Union Territory. Later, Namgyal was praised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders for his speech on the motion to scrap the special status given to Jammu and Kashmir and a Bill to bifurcate the state into two Union Territories.