PML-N dominates Mirpur Division as AJK election results show 9-4 lead over PPP

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) emerged as the dominant party in Azad Jammu and Kashmir’s (AJK) Mirpur Division, winning nine of the 13 seats in the legislative assembly, Aaj News reported citing unofficial and provisional results on Tuesday, a day after polling concluded.

According to the unofficial results, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) secured the remaining four seats, while the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) failed to win any constituency in the division.

Among the key results, PML-N’s Azhar Sadiq won LA-1 Mirpur with 15,427 votes, defeating PPP’s Muhammad Afsar Shahid, who secured 9,832 votes.

PPP’s Qasim Majeed won LA-2 with 31,378 votes, while PML-N’s Azeem Bakhsh Chaudhry finished second with 8,499 votes. In LA-3, PPP’s Yasir Sultan defeated PML-N’s Chaudhry Saeed by securing 12,590 votes against 11,081.

PML-N’s Rukhsar Ahmed won LA-4 with 22,376 votes, defeating PPP’s Sohaib Arshad, who received 15,851 votes.

One of the most significant upsets came in LA-7, where PML-N’s Tariq Farooq secured 37,613 votes to defeat former AJK prime minister and independent candidate Chaudhry Anwarul Haq.

In LA-8 Kotli, PPP’s Zafar Iqbal won with 19,535 votes, while PML-N’s Malik Muhammad Nawaz came second with 11,986 votes.

PML-N also won LA-9 through Umair Naeem, who secured 31,080 votes against PPP’s Javed Iqbal Budhanvi’s 28,509 votes.

The party further strengthened its position with victories in LA-11, where Muhammad Asif secured 26,270 votes, and LA-12, where Raja Riyasat won with 35,168 votes, defeating AJK PPP President Chaudhry Yasin, who received 30,320 votes.

In LA-13 Kotli, PML-N’s Raja Ayaz Ahmed Khan was declared successful with around 21,000 votes, while IPP’s Nisar Ansar finished runner-up with about 15,000 votes.

Speaking to the media, AJK Chief Election Commissioner Justice (retd) Ghulam Mustafa Mughal said the first phase of the elections was conducted in a free, fair and transparent manner with the support of the administration and security agencies.

He said all political parties actively participated in the electoral process and voters exercised their democratic right in a peaceful environment. He added that individuals attempting to disrupt polling in Samahni were arrested in time.

Despite the largely peaceful polling, isolated incidents of violence were reported. In Kotli’s Nakyal area, a PPP worker, Mukhtar Younis, was killed in firing, while three others were injured. Reacting on the killing, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said Mukhtar’s killing was an extremely deplorable incident. He blamed PML-N workers for involvement in the firing incident.