Tsering Samphel (born 25 June 1948) is an Indian politician.National Commission for Scheduled Tribes.
SHRI TSERING SAMPHEL, MEMBER NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR SCHEDULED TRIBES
'' Samphel supports the demand to give

Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory which constitutes a part of the larger Kashmir region and has been the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947. (subscription required) Quote: "Jammu and ...

Union Territory status. Tsering Samphel is the son of Sonam Wangyal. He hails from the

Boto people The Bota or Boto people are a tribal community found in Union territory of Ladakh. They are the third largest tribal community after Gujjars and Bakarwals in Jammu and Kashmir. According to 2011 Census of India, their population stands at 91,495. ...

. He did his university studies at the

Sampurnanand Sanskrit University Sampurnanand Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya (IAST: ; formerly Varanaseya Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya and Government Sanskrit College, Varanasi) is an Indian university and institution of higher learning located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, specializing i ...

Varanasi Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic t ...

and the

Punjabi University Punjabi University is a collegiate state public university located in Patiala, Punjab, India. It was established on 30 April 1962 and is only the second university in the world to be named after a language, after Hebrew University of Israel. ...

Patiala Patiala () is a city in southeastern Punjab, India, Punjab, northwestern India. It is the fourth largest city in the state and is the administrative capital of Patiala district. Patiala is located around the ''Qila Mubarak, Patiala, Qila Mubarak ...

. Samphel was one of the key leaders of the Lamdon Social Welfare Society, a social reform group set up in 1969 by Ladakhi youth that had studied in

Srinagar Srinagar (English: , ) is the largest city and the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It lies in the Kashmir Valley on the banks of the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus, and Dal and Anchar lakes. The city is known for its natu ...

. The Lamdon Society sought to challenge the then dominant politicians in Ladakh. Between 1971 and 1987 he served as president and secretary of the Lamdon Model Schools. In 1987 Samphel was elected to the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, standing as the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

candidate in the Leh seat. He obtained 16,142 votes (56.39% of the votes in the constituency). Following his tenure as Member of the Legislative Assembly, he served as Leh District Congress Committee president between 1990 and 1996. He served as the president of the Ladakh Buddhist Association between 1997 and 2004. Between 1987 and 2004 he also served as Executive Director of the Leh Nutrition Project. As LBA president he was a key actor in setting up the Ladakh Union Territory Front. Moreover, he is the founding secretary of the Ladakh Co-operative Transport Society. In December 2005 he reconstituted the Ladakh unit of the Indian National Congress, thereby challenging the position of the LUTF to be able to represent all Ladakhi Buddhists. This move caused a split in the LBA. He became the president of the Ladakh District Congress Committee. As of 2012 Samphel was a member of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. On 20 March 2014 the Congress Party declared Samphel is its candidate for the Ladakh Lok Sabha seat in the

parliamentary election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

. He filed his nomination papers on 15 April 2014. Although he was expected to win, traditional Congress supporters were divided, and two independent candidates affiliated with Muslim organizations that previously supported Congress filed in the same constituency. His friend turned foe Ghulam Raza lost by 36 votes, the closest margin in the 2014 election, to

Thupstan Chhewang Thupstan Chhewang (born 1 September 1947) is an Indian politician who was a member of the 14th and 16th Lok Sabha representing the Ladakh constituency in the former state of Jammu and Kashmir. Early life He was born in Shey to Shey Lonpo ...

of the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Samphel, Tsering Indian National Congress politicians from Ladakh United Progressive Alliance candidates in the 2014 Indian general election Sampurnanand Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya alumni 1948 births Living people Punjabi University alumni Place of birth missing (living people) Ladakh politicians