PML-N has taken a strong lead in the second phase of the AJK Legislative Assembly elections, winning 14 out of the 20 seats that were contested, according to the latest unofficial results. Voting took place on Sunday across 20 constituencies. This included eight seats from the Muzaffarabad Division and 12 seats reserved for Kashmiri refugees living in Pakistan.
The Pakistan Peoples Party managed to secure five seats in these results. In Neelum Valley, PML-N candidate Shah Ghulam Qadir won LA-25 Neelum-I with 19,201 votes. He defeated PPP’s Mian Abdul Waheed, who received 13,596 votes. In the neighbouring LA-26 Neelum-II, however, Mian Abdul Waheed of the PPP came out on top with 16,524 votes, just ahead of PML-N’s Khawaja Fayyaz who polled 15,494 votes.
Several other constituencies in Muzaffarabad also went to PML-N. Mustafa Bashir Abbasi won LA-30 Muzaffarabad-IV, while former AJK prime minister Raja Muhammad Farooq Haider retained LA-32 Muzaffarabad-VI. The PPP did manage a win in LA-33 Muzaffarabad-VII through Diwan Ali Khan Qamar Chughtai.
Among the refugee seats, PML-N performed strongly. Candidates including Nasir Hussain Dar, Chaudhry Muhammad Ismail, Muhammad Ahsan Raza, Maryam Javed and Raja Muhammad Siddique all secured victories. The PPP picked up a few of these seats as well, including wins by Amir Abdul Ghaffar, Javed Butt and Abdul Majeed Khan in the Kashmir Valley constituencies.
The returning officer has already issued official notifications for the two Neelum Valley seats, confirming Shah Ghulam Qadir and Mian Abdul Waheed as the elected members.
Meanwhile, the PPP has strongly rejected the process. Senior leader Raja Pervez Ashraf called the mandate “fake” and alleged widespread rigging. He also claimed that acting AJK President Chaudhry Latif Akbar was assaulted by PML-N supporters. Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari condemned the killing of a party worker in one constituency.
PML-N leaders dismissed these claims. Prime Minister’s Adviser Rana Sanaullah said the PPP started raising rigging allegations while voting was still going on and suggested that Bilawal had been given wrong information. He stated that only a few minor incidents were reported during the entire polling process.
Election authorities are still finalising the remaining results and issuing formal notifications.
