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As Leh district in Ladakh ceases to have any elected representatives from October 31, 2025, with the five-year term of the hill council coming to an end, elections to the local body are likely to be held only after ongoing talks between civil society groups and the Centre take a decisive turn, officials said. Ladakh MP Mohammad Haneefa is now its only representative.
On October 22, a month after after four people, including a Kargil war veteran, were killed in police action against protestors seeking Statehood, the civil society groups Leh Apex Body (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) — representing the two districts in Ladakh — resumed talks on the region’s status with Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) officials.
The groups were asked by the government to prepare a draft framework, including a road map for constitutional safeguards for Ladakh, before the next meeting. Though the dates for the next meeting is yet to be announced, the LAB and KDA have taken the help of constitutional and legal experts to argue for their existing demands, including inclusion under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution (tribal status) and Statehood, members of the groups said.
“The LAB and KDA are drafting their suggestions and we would share notes to present a common proposal to the Ministry. Sixth Schedule and Statehood are our main demands,” said Sajjad Kargili of the KDA.
At the October 22 meeting, the Ministry officials indicated to the two groups that special provisions guaranteed under Article 371 of the Constitution can be considered for Ladakh.
On October 31, an order by the Ladakh administration cited ongoing process for creation of new districts and the consequent need for redrawing boundaries of council areas and constituencies, for the delay in holding elections. Besides, it also highlighted the need for implementation of the amendment to the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (LAHDC) Act, 1997, providing one-third reservation for women in the LAHDCs, and said “holding elections to constitute a new LAHDC, Leh, is not practicable at this stage, as it would lead to representational anomalies and administrative inconsistencies”.
The order delegated the hill council’s functions to the Deputy Commissioner “until a new council is constituted following fresh elections.” The new districts were announced in 2024 and women’s reservation was notified on June 3 this year.
Konchok Stanzin, former councillor of Chushul along China border, said that as of now, barring an MP, there are no public representatives in Leh.
“This is particularly detrimental for people living in the regions bordering China. If they have an issue, they will have to come down to the district headquarters in Leh city, hundreds of kilometres away. Most people do not have the resources for that. As a councillor, I used to take care of their demands pertaining to connectivity, education, health, livelihood among others,” Mr. Stanzin told The Hindu.
He stated that the hill council is empowered to take decisions on 40 functions and each councillor has a development fund of ₹1.5 crore at his/her disposal.
The election to the 30-member LAHDC, Leh was last held in 2020 with the Bharatiya Janata Party winning 15 seats and the Congress claiming nine. Four councillors are nominated by the Lieutenant-Governor.
The LAHDC for Kargil district was constituted in 2023 and its term will come to an end in 2028.
For 2025-26 the Leh Hill Council was allocated a budget of ₹255 crore by the MHA. Ladakh became a Union Territory without Legislative Assembly in 2019 after the special status of former State of Jammu and Kashmir was read down by the Parliament and it was split into two Union Territories.
Leh district, with a population of 1.33 lakh as per the 2011 Census, covers an area of approximately 45,100 sq.km and is one of the coldest and highest inhabited regions in the country.
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