Leh: Independent candidate Mohmad Haneefa won the Ladakh Lok Sabha constituency, defeating his nearest Congress rival Tsering Namgyal by a margin of 27,906 votes, Returning officer Santosh Sukhadeve said.

Haneefa secured 65,303 votes against his Congress rival's 37,397 votes. The BJP's Tashi Gyalson bagged 31,956 votes in the triangular contest, Sudhadeve told reporters.

Haneefa, a former district president of the National Conference, is the fourth independent to win the seat since it was constituted in 1967. The seat was won by Independents in 1989, 2004 and 2009 general elections.

The BJP won the seat in the 2014 general elections and retained it in 2019.

The Congress has won the seat the maximum six times, while the National Conference emerged victorious from the seat twice in the past.