Amid a political vacuum which had caused despondency among the people of Ladakh, the funeral ceremony of Dr. Sonam Dawa, CEC, was held on February 6. Following the funeral, search and speculation about a new CEC had already started.

After the funeral on February 6, a meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Leh, was held, in which Chering Dorjey, Minister for Cooperative and Ladakh Affairs and Thupstan Chhewang, MP, were given the responsibility to nominate a new CEC.  Further, in the meeting, all the 19 Councillors have agreed that they would accept whoever is nominated for the post by the two senior leaders.

The Hill Council stood dissolved soon after the death of Dr. Sonam Dawa. The routine work of the Hill Council is done by the Deputy Commissioner, Leh, in the capacity of being the CEO. Regarding election, the Ladakh Affairs department has appointed the Deputy Commissioner, Avny Lavasa, as the election authority.

Chering Dorjey, Minister for Cooperative and Ladakh Affairs in a telephonic interview, said, “We have issued a notification on February 8. There should be a gap of ten days. The next election will be held on February 19 at 3:00 at the Council Secretariat Hall. There will be an election and after that, the new Chief Executive Councillor will be announced”.

He also said there would be a mid-term election in the Thiksey Constituency, and as of now there were no candidates. A notification on the issue would be issued any time after Feb 19, he said. 

When asked about the reshuffle of Executive Councillors, the Minister said, “After the death of CEC, the powers of Executive Councillors are automatically dissolved. At present, it is almost like there is no government in Leh. At present, the routine work of Hill Council is done by the Deputy Commissioner, Leh. 

“The new Chief Executive Councillor will form a new team and it is at his disposal to select the candidates as Executive Councillors. At present we cannot say that all the ECs will be reshuffled, it will depend on the new CEC to keep previous ECs or to select new ones”, he further informed. 

He further said that “the process of electing the new Chairman has been given to me and Thupstan Chhewang, MP, and we are hoping for a smooth election.”

Avny Lavasa, Deputy Commissioner, Leh, said, “We have decided to hold the election on February 19. It will probably not be a contested election but a unanimous one as there is a majority of the party in the Council. So that makes the preparation easier.”  

Expressing her condolence, the DC said, “It’s sad and very unfortunate. It’s a vacuum that nobody will be able to fill. However, we have to take things forward. There is a gap but we hope that the new chairman will take the same work forward. At present, the routine work of Hill Council is done by me in the capacity of being the CEO.”

Tsewang Gonbo, BJP, President, said, “We are hoping for a smooth election. And we have already given the responsibility to our two most senior leaders Chering Dorjey, Minister for Cooperative and Ladakh Affairs and Thupstan Chhewang, MP, Leh and we have full faith in them.”

When asked about the next candidate from the Thiksay Constituency, he said, "It can be from any political party as it is a mid-term poll”. 

When asked about the role of the opposition party in selecting the new CEC, he said, “There will be no role of the opposition party in such a scenario as the majority is of BJP.”

In these times of uncertainty, people have already been speculating as to who will be the next CEC, and the Executive Councillors. The next few weeks will be crucial. How gracefully it can be done is a million dollar question!