The Kargil unit of the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference Monday tendered mass resignation from the primary membership of the party after the party high command issued a diktat to them to support the official candidate of the Indian National Congress from the Ladakh Parliamentary segment.
The Kargil Unit of the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference and the Congress had unanimously supported the candidature of Independent candidate Haji Haneefa Jan much to the chagrin of the party high command.
On Monday, Party President Dr Farooq Abdullah directed the Kargil unit of the party to support the INDIA bloc candidate - T Namgyal in the Lok Sabha election for the Ladakh seat. Dr Abdullah also told his colleagues that failure to follow this directive would be seen as a serious breach of party discipline.
Reacting swiftly, Additional General Secretary Ladakh Qamar Ali Akhoon conveyed the unit’s decision to party president Farooq Abdullah in a letter.
In his letter addressed to the Party President Dr Farooq Abdullah, Qamar Ali Akhoon wrote, "In the interest of the Ladakh region as a whole and to secure the future of our region, the Ladakh Democratic Alliance has unitedly decided to project a joint candidate namely Mohd Haneefa Jan as an Independent candidate for the forthcoming Lok Sabha election supported by all the political and religious institutions unanimously coming across the party/religious affiliations". He further wrote, "The party high command is pressurizing us both telephonically as well as social media to support the official candidate of INC from Ladakh which is unacceptable to us including J&k NC and INC unit Kargil".