In a nail biting triangular contest, the cold desert Lok Sabha constituency of Ladakh will go to polls on Monday.

The main candidates, Tashi Gyalson (BJP) and Tsering Namgyal (Congress) are facing a stiff challenge from an independent and National Conference (NC) rebel Haji Hanifa Jan. While Gyalson and Namgyal are Buddhists of the Leh district, Jan is a Shia Muslim of the Kargil district and as such the contest is being considered as one between the Leh and Kargil districts.

Jan is riding on the support not only from the NC but also a section of Congress in the Kargil district. Many religious and social organisations of the Muslim dominated Kargil have also come out in his support. They expect the Buddhist vote to be split between the Congress and BJP that might benefit Jan.

The NC had left the Ladakh seat for its INDIA bloc partner Congress, but the rebel of the NC has upset the electoral calculations.

Of a total of 1.84 lakh voters, 95,926 are in the Kargil district while 88,877 are in Leh. There are 1,127 voters with disabilities (PwDs) and 1,570 elderly voters.

There are 577 polling stations in the constituency, including 298 in the Leh district and 279 in the Kargil district.

Hanle (Anle) Phu polling station in Leh is located at a height of 15,000 feet above sea level and is the world’s second-highest polling station. The Warshi polling station in the Nubra area of the Leh district is the last village and only 20 km away from the Siachen Glacier base camp. This polling station has been set up for only five voters belonging to one family.

Polling staff, EVMs and security personnel were airlifted by the IAF to Jinchan and Dipling polling stations in Leh and Phema, Ralakun and Shadey polling stations in Kargil district.

The BJP won the Ladakh seat in 2014 and 2019. However, the party did not give a ticket to sitting MP Jamyang Namgyal this time.

In 2014, BJP candidate Thupstan Chhewang won the seat in a four-cornered contest but resigned midway in support of the demands of Ladakhis.

The BJP has suffered a setback as the government has so far not accepted the demand of the striking Ladakhis for Sixth Schedule for the region and various other demands.