AJK polling underway at 23 atations in Bagh

BAGH: Voting is underway at 23 polling stations across two constituencies in Azad Jammu and Kashmir’s (AJK) Bagh district, in a closely watched exercise following disputes and allegations of irregularities during the region’s phased elections.

Polling began at 8am on Saturday and is scheduled to continue until 5pm, with authorities deploying additional security personnel to ensure voters can cast their ballots without fear or disruption.

The polling is being held in LA-15 (Bagh Central) and LA-16 (Eastern Bagh), where voting could not take place at several stations during the third phase of the elections earlier this week. The AJK Election Commission subsequently withheld the results of both constituencies and ordered polling at the remaining stations.

In LA-15, PPP candidate Sardar Ziaul Qamar had secured 16,637 votes in the stations where polling was held, followed by PML-N’s Mushtaq Ahmed Minhas with 15,015 votes. Jamaat-i-Islami candidate retired Brig Dr Muhammad Khan stood third with 12,259 votes.

Meanwhile, the withheld result in LA-16 involves 14 polling stations with 7,238 registered voters. Results from the remaining stations had placed PML-N’s Sardar Mir Akbar in front with 19,515 votes, giving him a lead of 3,225 votes over PPP’s Sardar Qamaruz Zaman.

The contest has remained tense, with candidates from all five parties accusing their rivals of large-scale rigging. Election authorities, however, have stressed that adequate security has been arranged.

AJK Chief Election Commissioner retired Justice Ghulam Mustafa Mughal said sufficient police and law-enforcement personnel had been deployed at polling stations to provide voters with a “fear-free environment”.

The latest polling is part of an election process conducted in phases amid unrest and law-and-order concerns across the region. The third phase was initially planned for all 11 constituencies of Poonch Division but was limited to Bagh and Haveli districts after security concerns emerged.

The Election Commission has already announced the result for LA-14 (Bagh-I), where Jammu Kashmir Awami Dast-o-Bazu Party candidate Sajid Iqbal Abbasi won by a substantial margin.

The election in neighbouring LA-17 (Haveli), however, has become the subject of a separate dispute after AJK Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore was declared the winner. His PML-N rival, Engineer Mohsin Aziz, challenged the result, prompting the Election Commission to hear arguments from both sides.

With voting now underway at the remaining 23 stations, attention is focused on turnout, security and whether the fresh polling will finally settle the disputed contests in Bagh.