New Delhi: Even as Kargil and Sankoo observed a complete shutdown on Tuesday (November 10) demanding the deferment of the elections to the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (LAHDCs), the State Election Commission of Ladakh went ahead and on the same day announced the schedule for elections to all eight LAHDCs, reported Economic Times.As per the notification issued by State Election Commissioner Sudhanshu Pandey, the last date for filing nominations is November 17 followed by the scrutiny of nomination papers on November 18.If polling is required, it will be held on December 4 between 8 am and 5 pm, with the entire election process scheduled to be completed by December 8. Panchayat and municipal elections are scheduled for November 21.Reacting to the development, the Ladakh Nambardar Association, Ladakh Gompa Association and Ladakh Buddhist Association have given a call for boycott of the elections saying that people in Ladakh will not participate in the panchayat and local body polls.“Basically, it is the decision of the Ladakh Numberdar Association, endorsed by the Ladakh Buddhist Association and the Gompa Association. The reason for the boycott is the way delimitation has been done. Everybody is unhappy with the way it was done. They are going to do the same in the Hill Council polls. Besides, the promises on the liquor policy, made after women’s groups held protests, have not been fulfilled, along with other issues. So, we have decided to boycott these polls,” said Chering Dorjay Lakrook, president of the Ladakh Buddhist Association, reported Hindustan Times.Earlier, Ashish Kundra, the chief secretary of Ladakh had termed the upcoming elections as a “watershed moment”.“Protest is a democratic right, and so is voting. I hope leaders in Kargil and Leh will participate and encourage others to vote in these grassroots democratic elections. In fact, these leaders have repeatedly complained that bureaucrats rule Ladakh. Now this is their chance to elect their representatives,” said Kundra while addressing a press conference.Later on Tuesday evening, a “Save Democracy” candlelight march was organised in Kargil to press for the demands for deferment of the elections and a review of the delimitation exercise.“How can elections be conducted without people? 25% of our population is outside Ladakh. This is an attempt to rig the elections in favour of a particular party (BJP). We support the election boycott call given by the Nambardar Association,” said Lakruk, who is also the president of the Leh Apex Body (LAB).“These bureaucrats know nothing about this region. Elections have never been held in December in Ladakh. Schools are close to children’s homes, but polling booths are far away. How will people and officials travel if it snows?” Lakruk added.