{"id":130548,"date":"2026-08-02T11:34:26","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T06:34:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?p=130548"},"modified":"2026-08-02T11:34:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T06:34:27","slug":"second-phase-of-ajk-polls-begins-in-muzaffarabad-division","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/130548\/","title":{"rendered":"Second phase of AJK polls begins in Muzaffarabad division"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Mirpur(National Times)- The second phase of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) elections began on Sunday morning. Polling is being held in nine constituencies of Muzaffarabad division and all 12 refugee constituencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Polling started at 8am and will continue without interruption till 5pm. Over 300 candidates are vying for nine Muzaffarabad seats and 12 seats for refugees settled in different regions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the AJK Election Commission, 207 candidates are in the fray for the nine constituencies in Muzaffarabad division, comprising five seats in Muzaffarabad district and two each in Neelum and Jhelum Valley districts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another 137 candidates are contesting the 12 refugee constituencies, including six seats representing refugees from the Kashmir Valley and six from Jammu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A total of 809,621 voters are registered in Muzaffarabad division, while the 12 refugee constituencies have a combined electorate of 438,834. According to the commission, 1,483 polling stations have been established across Muzaffarabad division, of which 533 have been declared highly sensitive, 741 sensitive and 209 normal. Another 1,057 polling stations have been set up for the 12 refugee constituencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Out of 12 refugee seats, seven seats are in Punjab, one seat is in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, one seat (Jammu-VI) is divided between Pun\u00adjab, Islamabad, and Khyber Pakhtun\u00adkhwa, one seat is divided between Sindh and Balo\u00adchistan (Valley-I), and one seat (Jammu-I) is shared among refugees living in Balochistan, Punjab, and Sindh. Valley-V seat is divided between Punjab and Islamabad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Rawalpindi and Islamabad, about 27,000 registered male and female voters will elect lawmakers for LA-43 (Valley-IV), LA-44 (Valley-V), and LA-39 (Jammu-VI) seats. A total of 175 polling stations have been established, out of which 18 polling stations in Rawalpindi have been declared sensitive. A total of 34 candidates are in the fray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Gujrat, almost 2,000 policemen will perform security duties at scores of polling stations for the LA-38 elections. The total number of polling stations in these districts is 115, with 75 in Gujrat, 24 in Wazirabad and 16 in Mandi Bahauddin. The total number of voters is 50,225 in the entire constituency. As many as 11 candidates are contesting this seat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Sindh, officials said the elections will be conducted on LA-34 (Jammu-I) and LA-40 (Kashmir Valley-I) with polling stations established across Karachi and other districts of Sindh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In LA-34 (Jammu-I), a total of 17 candidates are contesting the election, which has 698 registered voters in Karachi\u2019s seven districts and 477 voters in 13 other districts of Sindh. For LA-40 Kashmir (Valley-I), 11 candidates are in the race. The constituency has 4,200 registered voters in Karachi and 403 voters in 17 other districts of Sindh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Balochistan, seven polling booths have been established across the province for the Kashmir Valley-I constituency, where 1,174 registered voters are expected to cast their ballots. Balochistan shares this seat with Sindh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the Jammu-I constituency, six polling booths have been set up, with a total of 182 registered voters, including 85 men and 97 women, eligible to vote. Polling stations have been established for AJK refugee voters residing in Balochistan at various locations, including Quetta, Pishin, Qila Saifullah, Hub, Loralai, Sibi, Mastung, Zhob and Barkhan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 41 polling stations, mostly in Swat and Mansehra, have been set up for the LA-45 (Kashmir VI) seat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>PPP says agents being prevented from sitting at polling station<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The PPP alleged that its polling agents were not being allowed to sit at polling stations in LA-34, calling on the Election Commission to intervene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sardar Abdul Shakoor, the in-charge of the PPP\u2019s AJK election cell, said the agents were being excluded due to them not being from the \u201clocal area\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He demanded that the Election Commission take notice of the incident and allow the PPP\u2019s agents to perform their duties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a separate statement<\/a> in the morning, the party quoted Shakoor as claiming that no polling staff was present at any of the 196 polling stations in LA-27 in Muzaffarabad, adding that this raised the concern that there was a \u201cdeliberate\u201d attempt to delay the polling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, the party alleged, polling staff had reached late at 71 polling stations of LA-28, due to which the polling process was facing delays. The PPP claimed that a similar situation was being witnessed at several polling stations of LA-30, where polling staff had not arrived on time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regarding LA-31, the party said Shakoor had sent a written complaint to the Election Commission on behalf of its candidate contesting from the constituency, Chaudhry Latif Akbar. The party said the Election Commission was asked to take action over difficulties faced by voters due to the closure of the Rangla-Katker Road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The party said over 50 vehicles carrying voters were stuck due to the road\u2019s closure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Allies\u2019 rift continues to widen<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The PPP and the PML-N \u2014 coalition partners in the Centre \u2014 have been engaged in a war of words since the latter emerged victorious<\/a> in Mirpur in the first phase of AJK elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite multiple rounds of talks between the two parties in AJK, the tensions between the two allies over the results of the Mirpur elections did not subside, with leaders from both parties continuing to trade rigging allegations ahead of the second phase of the AJK elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To defuse the tensions, senior leaders of both parties met multiple times in Azad Kashmir over the weekend to \u201cexplore a legal resolution\u201d to the dispute. The latest round of talks followed two earlier meetings on Thursday and Friday. Another round was scheduled for Saturday afternoon, but could not be held as the PML-N leaders returned to Islamabad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A PML-N source told Dawn<\/em> that discussions focused on the PPP\u2019s allegations and its demand for re-polling in certain constituencies. \u201cIt was not planned or pre-planned rigging but isolated acts at places where supporters of one candidate enjoyed numerical dominance over their opponents. Such incidents have unfortunately been part of the territory\u2019s polling atmosphere and have also been witnessed in previous elections,\u201d the source quoted the PML-N leaders as telling their counterparts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the sources, the PPP initially raised objections to the results in four constituencies \u2014 Charhoi, Sehnsa and Nakyal in Kotli district, and Barnala in Bhimber district. However, it later withdrew its allegations regarding Sehnsa and Barnala. Saturday\u2019s discussions centred on Charhoi, where PPP AJK president Chaudhry Yasin lost to PML-N\u2019s Raja Riasat, and Nakyal, where PPP candidate Javed Iqbal Budhanvi was defeated by PML-N\u2019s Raja Ayaz Ahmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, the Sharif family also held discussions at Jati Umra. According to a statement issued by the PM\u2019s Office, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held consultations with his elder brother and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif at Jati Umra to take stock of mounting political challenges, including the rift with the PPP over the AJK elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A senior PML-N leader told Dawn<\/em> that the party leadership had taken serious note of the PPP chairman\u2019s increasingly combative rhetoric against the Sharif family over the AJK polls and his warning that the PPP could reconsider its support for the federal government if the remaining phases of the elections were manipulated in favour of the PML-N. Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar also attended the meeting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mirpur(National Times)- The second phase of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) elections began on Sunday morning. Polling is being held in nine constituencies of Muzaffarabad division and all 12 refugee constituencies. Polling started at 8am and will continue without interruption till 5pm. Over 300 candidates are vying for nine Muzaffarabad seats and 12 seats […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":130549,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-130548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest_news","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nSecond phase of AJK polls begins in Muzaffarabad division - Nation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/130548\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Second phase of AJK polls begins in Muzaffarabad division - Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mirpur(National Times)- The second phase of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) elections began on Sunday morning. 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