Ladakh group urges postponement of local elections to April-May 2025

The Ladakh Buddhist Association (LBA) has urged authorities to postpone upcoming panchayat and municipal elections in the region to April or May next year, expressing apprehension about the integrity of the electoral process.

LBA chairman Tsering Dorjey Lakrook raised alarm over what he described as patterns of electoral fraud witnessed in other parts of India. "We suspect that this government is up to some mischief. We saw electoral irregularities in West Bengal, Bihar, Haryana, Maharashtra and other states," he said.

The group's concerns centre on the removal of voters from electoral rolls, a practice they claim has affected approximately 13 crore citizens nationwide. Lakrook argued that Ladakh, being a smaller region, could be particularly vulnerable to such irregularities. "Ladakh is a small region and fraud is easy," he cautioned.

The association's plea reflects growing scrutiny of electoral procedures in the country, particularly regarding voter registration accuracy and the safeguarding of democratic processes during local body elections.