The 26 newly-elected councillors of the sixth Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC)-Leh will be administered oath of office and secrecy on Saturday.
Additional district commissioner Sonam Chosjor said, “All 26 councillors will be administered oath by principal district and sessions judge Ranbir Singh Jasrotia at Sindhu Sanskriti Kendra at 9.30am on Saturday.”
He added that thereafter, the chief executive councillor and deputy chief executive councillor will be elected. The term of fifth LAHDC-Leh will end on Friday.
LAHDC-Leh has a total of 30 seats and four councilors are nominated by the government.
Since the formation of the hill council in 1995, the Congress had swept the polls thrice, while the Ladakh Union Territorial Front had won the elections in 2005.The BJP wrested control of the council from Congress for the first time in the last elections by winning 18 out of 26 seats.
Celebrations will be held to mark the first anniversary of the UT status to Ladakh after the oath-taking ceremony. On October 31, 2019, Ladakh was made a UT without legislature while Jammu and Kashmir was converted into Union Territory with legislature.
The people of Leh have been demanding constitutional safeguards under sixth schedule and on September 28, former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) minister and ex-president of the BJP’s Ladakh unit, Chering Dorjay had cautioned the Centre of a sustained campaign in case the apex body was deceived.
(With inputs from PTI)