ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) secured a commanding lead in the second phase of Azad Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly elections, winning 13 of the 18 seats declared so far, according to unofficial and incomplete results released on Monday.
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) won five seats, while results for two constituencies are still pending.
Election authorities have issued official results for five constituencies. Counting continues in the remaining seats.
Polling was held on 20 seats, including eight general seats from Muzaffarabad Division and 12 seats reserved for refugees from Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir living in Pakistan.
One constituency, LA-28 Muzaffarabad-2, remains undecided after polling was suspended at 56 polling stations. Re-polling will take place on August 4.
According to results from 118 of the constituency’s 174 polling stations, PPP candidate Syed Bazil Naqvi leads with 19,358 votes, while PML-N’s Chaudhry Shehzad has secured 18,502 votes.
Muzaffarabad Division
In LA-25 Neelum-1, PML-N president Shah Ghulam Qadir won with 18,925 votes. PPP candidate Mian Abdul Waheed Advocate finished second with 13,596 votes.
In LA-26 Neelum-2, PPP’s Mian Abdul Waheed won the seat with 17,466 votes, defeating PML-N’s Shah Ghulam Qadir, who received 15,494 votes.
In LA-29 Muzaffarabad City, PPP candidate Sardar Mukhtar Khan defeated PML-N’s Barrister Iftikhar Gilani by 3,379 votes. Mukhtar secured 19,792 votes, while Gilani received 16,413.
In LA-30 Hattian-Dupatta, PML-N’s Mustafa Bashir Abbasi won with 17,749 votes. PPP’s Mubashir Munir Awan came second with 11,947 votes.
In LA-31 Khawara, PML-N candidate Saqib Majeed Raja secured victory with 29,681 votes. PPP candidate Chaudhry Latif Akbar received 21,898 votes, suffering a heavy defeat in the constituency.
In LA-32 Chikar, former AJK prime minister Raja Farooq Haider of PML-N won with 20,504 votes. PPP’s Sahibzada Ashfaq Zafar polled 17,945 votes.
In LA-33 Leepa Valley, PPP candidate Diwan Ali Chughtai won the seat with 19,521 votes. PML-N’s Chaudhry Muhammad Rashid finished second with 15,591 votes.
Refugee Constituencies
PML-N dominated the refugee seats, winning nine of the 12 constituencies decided so far.
In LA-34 Jammu-1, PML-N’s Nasir Hussain Dar won after securing 5,695 votes. PPP’s Chaudhry Abdul Qadeer Chauhan finished second.
In LA-35 Jammu-2, PML-N’s Chaudhry Muhammad Ismail won with 23,893 votes, defeating independent candidate Sardar Muhammad Ghiyas.
In LA-36 Jammu-3, PML-N’s Muhammad Ahsan Raza secured victory with 27,218 votes. PPP’s Ahsan Ismail came second with 12,980 votes.
In LA-37 Jammu-4, PML-N candidate Maryam Javed won with 28,664 votes. Central Muslim League candidate Usman Aleem finished second with 22,827 votes.
In LA-38 Jammu-5, PML-N’s Zeeshan Ali won the seat with more than 13,000 votes. Jammu and Kashmir Muslim League candidate Muhammad Akbar Chaudhry finished second.
In LA-39 Jammu-6, PML-N’s Raja Muhammad Siddique won with 10,981 votes. PPP’s Chaudhry Fakhar Zaman secured 5,081 votes.
PPP claimed LA-40 Kashmir Valley-1, where Aamir Abdul Ghaffar defeated PML-N’s Muhammad Naeem Khan.
PML-N won LA-41 Kashmir Valley-2, LA-42 Kashmir Valley-3, LA-43 Kashmir Valley-4, and LA-44 Kashmir Valley-5. Official results have been issued for all four constituencies.
PPP secured LA-45 Kashmir Valley-6, where Abdul Majeed Khan defeated All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference candidate Khawaja Muhammad Dilawar. Election authorities have also issued the official result for the constituency.
The second phase of the AJK elections covered 20 seats. They included eight territorial constituencies in Azad Kashmir and 12 refugee constituencies representing displaced Kashmiris residing in Pakistan. Vote counting is continuing, and the overall composition of the assembly will become clearer once the remaining results are announced.
