Direct impact of Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra: Congress on victory in Ladakh council polls
New Delhi, (PTI) With the Congress winning several seats in the elections to the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Kargil, the party said it is a direct impact of Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh also took a swipe at the media saying "the national media will blank it out, but trends coming in show Congress leading convincingly in the elections to the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Kargil with an almost complete wipeout of the BJP."
"This is a direct impact of Rahul Gandhi continuing Bharat Jodo Yatra in Ladakh last month," Ramesh said in a post on X.
Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal said the party has registered a resounding victory in the Ladakh hill council elections after 10 years.
"Along with our INDIA partner National Conference, we have swept the entire region in its first election after the abrogation of Art. 370.
"Rahul Gandhi ji's Bharat Jodo Yatra last month across the region has given people of Ladakh and Kargil the faith that the Congress and INDIA have a deep concern about the issues they face, and the need for their democratic sentiments to be given a voice," he said on X.
"Congratulations to all victorious candidates," Venugopal said, adding "I am confident this will usher a new democratic dawn in Ladakh and Kargil".
Another Congress leader P Chidambaram said the LAHDC poll result is a "resounding victory for I.N.D.I.A. and a crushing defeat for the BJP".
"The results show that the people have totally repudiated the misguided agenda of the BJP, the revocation of Art. 370 and the creation of Union Territories out of a State. "If elections are held in the Kashmir valley, the results will not be different," he said.
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate also said the people of Ladakh-Kargil have spoken decisively.
"A resounding mandate for us in the Ladakh-Kargil Autonomous Hill Council elections - the first electoral exercise since abolition of Art 370.
"In August Rahul Gandhi ji's Bharat Jodo Yatra all across Leh-Ladakh met and assured the people of the region that their voices matter," she said.
The National Conference and the Congress together won 22 seats in the LAHDC polls, officials said on Sunday.
The elections to the LAHDC-Kargil was the first poll to be held after Ladakh was carved out as a Union territory following the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution.
Twenty-six seats of the council went to polls on October 4. The administration nominates four members with voting rights to the 30-member council.
According to the officials, the National Conference (NC) won 12 seats, making it the single largest party, while its ally Congress registered victory in 10. The BJP won two seats, while two independent candidates also registered victory, they said.
The existing council headed by the NC's Feroz Ahmad Khan completed its five-year term on October 1. The new council will be in place before October 11.
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Ladakh a living land of dharma for centuries: Amit Shah
Leh/Jammu (PTI): Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday described the return of sacred relics of Lord Buddha to Ladakh after 75 years as a "historic reunion" and said that the Union Territory has remained a "living land of dharma", preserving and nurturing Buddhist knowledge for centuries.
Stressing the relevance of Buddha's teachings in modern times, Shah said the message of peace, compassion and the middle path was even more important today than it was 2,500 years ago.
"Ladakh has been a living land of dharma for centuries. When the Dalai Lama comes here, he says this land is not merely a geographical land but a living laboratory of Buddhist culture and compassion," Shah said, speaking after the inauguration of the sacred holy relics exposition of Tathagata Buddha and the 2569th Buddha Purnima celebrations at Jivetsal in Leh during his two-day visit to Ladakh.
Calling Ladakh a land of compassion, he said this land has preserved and nurtured knowledge. "Whenever Buddhism faced crises, this land worked to protect the teachings of Buddha. And when peace returned, it helped to expand and carry forward that preserved wisdom," he added.
"Unless one internalises knowledge and makes it a part of oneself, liberation is not possible. Knowledge is incomplete without spiritual practice, while spiritual practice without knowledge is blind. Therefore, the union of spiritual practice and knowledge is the right path. Even after all this, if there is no moral discipline, one cannot lead a truly wise life. The basis of a life of wisdom is moral discipline," he said.
Shah said it was through Ladakh and adjoining routes that the teachings of Tathagata Buddha, which originated in India, spread to China and several other countries.
"The message that emerged from the land of Ladakh has become a guiding force for many people around the world to take their lives forward. The presence of these sacred relics in Ladakh reminds us that India's civilisation has, for thousands of years, given the message of peace and coexistence," he said.
He said that in a diverse region like Ladakh and Kargil, this message becomes even more relevant. "This heritage still tells us today that amidst conflict and unrest, only the path of peace and compassion can provide solutions."
He said the return of the relics on Buddha Purnima had enhanced the significance of the festival for the people of Ladakh.
"These sacred relics have come to Ladakh after 75 years. It is as if Buddha himself is present here today," Shah said, adding that followers of Buddhism and people of other faiths in Ladakh and Kargil would draw spiritual energy from the relics.
Highlighting Ladakh's role in the spread of Buddhism, Shah said Kashmir was once an ancient centre of Buddhist studies, Mahayana philosophy and Buddhist art, from where Ladakh first came into close contact with Buddhism.
He said Emperor Ashoka's envoys laid the foundation of Buddhist influence in Ladakh through Kashmir and Gandhara, while Mahayana Buddhism expanded in the region during the Kushan period between the first and third centuries CE.
The Silk Route linking Kashmir, Leh, Yarkand, Khotan and Tibet became a channel not only for trade but also for ideas, monks, manuscripts and artistic traditions, Shah said.
He added that later, Tibetan influence between the seventh and tenth centuries further enriched Ladakh through Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions.
Stressing the relevance of Buddha's teachings in modern times, Shah said the message of peace, compassion and the middle path was even more important today than it was 2,500 years ago.
"Amid conflict and unrest, only the path of peace and compassion can provide solutions," he said.
Shah also appealed to the Ladakh administration to ensure complete arrangements so that followers of all faiths, especially Buddhists, could visit and pay obeisance to the relics.
#WATCH लेह, लद्दाख: केंद्रीय गृह मंत्री अमित शाह ने कहा, "जब दलाई लामा यहां आते हैं तो वे कहते हैं कि यह भूमि केवल भौगोलिक भूमि नहीं है। यह भूमि बौद्ध संस्कृति और करुणा की जीवंत प्रयोगशाला है। इस भूमि पर ज्ञान का संरक्षण हुआ है... भारत की सभ्यता हजारों वर्षों से शांति का संदेश… https://t.co/2nwG0w2CE6 pic.twitter.com/W13itRBqeX
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