Balloting underway at 23 polling stations in two constituencies of AJK’s Bagh

• 5,032 voters to exercise right to vote in LA-15.
• 7,238 voters to cast ballots in LA-16 Bagh-3.
• Polling process to continue until 5pm.

Voting is underway across 23 polling stations in two constituencies of Bagh district in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Saturday.

The election had been postponed at the stations on August 10 after polling staff did not arrive and tensions affected the situation.

AJK Election Commission Secretary Raja Shakeel Ahmed Khan said at the time that polling could not be held at the affected polling stations due to unrest.

The polling for the third phase of the AJK elections was held in four constituencies of Bagh and Haveli districts on August 10, while voting in seven constituencies of Poonch and Sudhnoti was postponed due to law and order concerns.

On the day of the election, unofficial results from 203 of 213 polling stations of LA-15 Bagh-2 showed Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Zia Qamar leading with 16696 votes, while Pakistan Muslim League’s (PML-N) Muhammad Mushtaq Ahmed Minhas was behind with 15099 votes.

In LA-16 Bagh-3, PML-N candidate Sardar Mir Akbar Khan was leading against PPP candidate Sardar Qamar Zaman Khan.

Meanwhile, Voting is taking place at nine polling stations in LA-15 Bagh-2, where 5,032 voters will exercise their right to vote.

In LA-16 Bagh-3, polling is continuing at 14 stations, with 7,238 voters eligible to cast their ballots.

The polling process, which began at 8am, will continue until 5pm.

In the first phase of the AJK elections, the PML-N won nine of 13 seats in the Mirpur division, while the PPP secured four.

In the second phase, voters cast ballots for nine seats in the Muzaffarabad division and 12 seats reserved for refugees. The PML-N won 15 seats, while the PPP secured six.

The PML-N has emerged as the dominant party in the region, securing 24 seats, while the PPP has won 10 seats in the first two phases of the elections.

The elections, however, were marred by rigging and violence allegations levelled by the PPP.

In a video message on August 3, PPP Chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari described the polls as “neither free nor fair”, alleging they were “bullet elections”, “murderous elections” and “bloody elections”.

PML-N rejected the allegations, with Adviser to Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah challenging the PPP to present any evidence it had before the election commission.