Vote counting is underway following the conclusion of polling at 23 stations across two constituencies in Bagh district of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). Meanwhile, the Election Commission has officially declared Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore the victor from LA-17 Haveli.
Polling at nine stations in LA-15 Central Bagh and 14 stations in LA-16 Eastern Bagh began at 8 a.m. and remained largely peaceful, with no significant incidents reported. Voting was originally held on August 10 in four constituencies across Bagh and Haveli as part of the third phase of elections. However, the results for LA-15 and LA-16 were withheld after polling could not be completed at several stations.
In LA-15 Central Bagh, preliminary results from the stations where voting took place earlier showed Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) candidate Sardar Zia-ul-Qamar leading with 16,637 votes. He was followed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Mushtaq Ahmed Minhas with 15,015 votes, and Jamaat-e-Islami candidate retired Brigadier Dr. Muhammad Khan with 12,259 votes. The Election Commission withheld the final result for this constituency due to the absence of polling at nine stations. With voting now completed at these locations, the final outcome is awaited after the remaining ballots are counted.
Similarly, the result for LA-16 Eastern Bagh was withheld because polling could not be held at 14 stations, representing 7,238 registered voters. Early results from the other stations showed PML-N candidate Sardar Mir Akbar leading with 19,515 votes, ahead by 3,225 votes of his closest competitor, PPP candidate Sardar Qamar Zaman. Candidates in both constituencies have accused each other of widespread rigging.
In a significant development, the AJK Election Commission issued a notification declaring Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore as the winning candidate from LA-17 Haveli. Following the August 10 polling, PML-N candidate Chaudhry Mohsin Aziz had filed allegations of electoral irregularities with the commission. Chief Election Commissioner retired Justice Ghulam Mustafa Mughal reserved his decision on the petition last Thursday after hearing arguments. The commission has now formally confirmed Rathore’s victory.
The commission also confirmed the win of Jammu and Kashmir Awami Dast-o-Bazu chairman Sajid Iqbal Abbasi from LA-14 Western Bagh. This constituency is the home seat of Muslim Conference president and former AJK prime minister Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan, whom Abbasi defeated by a margin of 21,000 votes.
So far, in the phased AJK elections, the PML-N has secured 24 seats, while the PPP has won 11. Voting remains pending in Poonch and Pallandri districts, where elections were postponed due to law and order issues triggered by protests from a banned action committee.
