Last Updated on July 13, 2021 at 12:10 pm
Cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Narendra Modi left leaders in Ladakh, including members of the BJP unhappy since they feel they have been neglected and left out. They have written a letter to the PM saying that their community does not have representation at the central level.
Gulam Abbas Abidi who is BJP Ladakh secretary wrote to both PM and Union Home Minister Amit Shah that the region had always supported the party and non-inclusion of a representative from Ladakh in the cabinet was very disappointing. The letter further read that Ladakh got represented at the Centre was under the Congress government which was a decade ago.
Others who wrote to the PM include BJP leader Tashi Gyalson, chief executive councillor of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Leh, and Kaushok Thiksay, who heads the Thikse Monastery, one of the largest gompas in Ladakh.
As per 2011 census, Buddhists make up 0.7 per cent of the Indian population, of which neo-Buddhists (Ambedkarites who converted to Buddhism) account for 87 per cent, and traditional Buddhists, 13 per cent.
In his letter to PM Modi, BJP leader Tashi Gyalson said that successive governments have been neglecting Ladakh since decade and their party has conferred Ladakh with the union territory status in 2019 that had not only been rejoiced by the people of Ladakh, but also had a great political resonance nationwide. Further in the letter it was mentioned that when Ladakh is in its developing stage, region is witnessing major political pressures as well as destructive elements from Jammu and Kashmir, also the Chinese assertion along the borders of Ladakh. Further letter read that exclusion of Ladakh representation in the making of the new Cabinet has been disappointing.
Leh Mayor Ishey Namgyal posted on his facebook page that central government had neglected this sensitive border region in the previous Modi cabinet by neglecting their senior two times MP Sh. Thupstan Chhewang. He further mentioned that Jamyang Tsering Namgyal was the deserving candidate in this Cabinet reshuffle being the lone Buddhist MP who also belongs to Schedule Tribe.
BJP spokesperson R.P. Singh said that the party kept the sentiments of Ladakh in mind when it granted the region UT status. “The Union Cabinet is not the only platform for representation, our MP is from there,” he added.
