Polling is underway at 23 polling stations across two constituencies in Azad Jammu and Kashmir’s Bagh district. Voting started at 8am on Saturday and will continue until 5pm. This is part of the delayed process from the third phase of the AJK election.
On Monday, in LA-15 (Bagh Central), PPP’s Sardar Ziaul Qamar secured 16,637 votes. He was followed by PML-N’s Mushtaq Ahmed Minhas with 15,015 votes and Jamaat-i-Islami’s retired Brig Dr Muhammad Khan with 12,259. The Election Commission withheld the final result because polling could not take place at nine stations.
In LA-16 (Eastern Bagh), the result was also held back after voting failed at 14 stations covering 7,238 registered voters. Available figures showed PML-N’s Sardar Mir Akbar leading with 19,515 votes. He was ahead of PPP’s Sardar Qamaruz Zaman by 3,225 votes. All five candidates in both constituencies had accused their rivals of large-scale rigging.
Chief Election Commissioner retired Justice Ghulam Mustafa Mughal told reporters that enough police and law enforcement staff had been deployed. He said the arrangements would give voters a fear-free environment at the polling stations.
So far PML-N has won 24 seats. Nine came from Mirpur division in the first phase and 15 from the second phase that covered Muzaffarabad Division plus the refugee seats. The PPP managed only 10 seats in the same phases.
The third phase was originally planned for the entire Poonch Division. That area includes 11 constituencies across Bagh, Haveli, Poonch and Sudhnoti. Due to law and order concerns the commission limited the schedule to Bagh and Haveli only. Results from the two affected Bagh constituencies remain pending until the 23 polling stations complete the process.
In LA-14 (Dhirkot) the commission announced a clear win for Jammu Kashmir Awami Dast-o-Bazu Party candidate Sajid Iqbal Abbasi, who received 40,522 votes. In LA-17 (Haveli) the returning officer issued Form 27 declaring AJK Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore the winner. His PML-N rival Engr Mohsin Aziz challenged the decision. The CEC reserved his ruling after hearing both sides on Thursday.
The phased AJK election continues under tight security as authorities work to complete the remaining votes in Bagh district.
