BAGH: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) polling is underway at 23 polling stations in two constituencies of Bagh district, with voting beginning at 8am and scheduled to continue until 5pm.
The AJK Election Commission said polling was proceeding peacefully, with no reports of violence so far. However, voter turnout at the polling stations remained low.
The repolling is being held in LA-15 (Bagh Central) and LA-16 (Eastern Bagh), where polling could not be conducted at several stations during the third phase of the AJK elections.
In LA-15, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) candidate Sardar Ziaul Qamar had secured 16,637 votes, while Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Mushtaq Ahmed Minhas received 15,015 votes. Jamaat-i-Islami candidate retired Brig Dr Muhammad Khan stood third with 12,259 votes.
However, polling could not be held at nine stations in the constituency, prompting the Election Commission to withhold the final result until the electoral process is completed.
Similarly, the result of LA-16 was withheld after polling failed to take place at 14 stations involving 7,238 registered voters.
According to results from the remaining polling stations, PML-N candidate Sardar Mir Akbar was leading in LA-16 with 19,515 votes. His closest rival, PPP’s Sardar Qamaruz Zaman, had secured 16,290 votes, leaving a margin of 3,225 votes.
The election process in both constituencies has been marred by allegations of irregularities, with candidates accusing their opponents of large-scale rigging.
Meanwhile, the AJK Election Commission has formally notified Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore as the returned candidate from LA-17 (Haveli).
The notification was issued late on Friday and made available to the media on Saturday.
The dispute has added to tensions surrounding the third phase of the AJK elections, which have been conducted amid concerns over law and order.
The PML-N has emerged as the leading party in the first two phases of the AJK elections, securing 24 seats. It won nine seats from Mirpur division during the first phase on July 27 and another 15 seats in the second phase on August 2.
The PPP secured 10 constituencies during the two phases. The third phase was originally scheduled to cover all 11 constituencies of Poonch Division, including three in Bagh, one in Haveli, five in Poonch and two in Sudhnoti.
However, due to law-and-order concerns, the Election Commission allowed polling to proceed only in Bagh and Haveli.
The commission later withheld results in LA-15 and LA-16 pending repolling at 23 polling stations.
