LEH: Independent candidate Mohmad Haneefa is leading in the Ladakh Lok Sabha constituency over his Congress and BJP rivals, according to Election Commission trends.

Haneefa has got more than 16,743 votes so far, followed by Congress' Tsering Namgyal (5813 votes) and BJP's Tashi Gyalson (5,194 votes).

The BJP won the seat in the 2014 general elections and retained it in 2019. The Congress has won the seat the maximum number of times six.

Haneefa, a former National Conference leader, quit the party along with its entire Kargil unit to contest as an Independent, after the Congress fielded Namgyal as the INDIA bloc candidate. He the lone candidate from the Shia Muslim-dominated Kargil region.

This is the first major electoral battle in the region after it was carved out of Jammu and Kashmir and granted Union territory status in 2019.