Bilawal warns against ‘stealing’ AJK election

KARACHI: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari warned on Thursday that a stolen election in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) would start a “countdown” for the federal government.

Polls in AJK are being held in three phases over security concerns, with the first set of polls held in Mirpur division on Monday.

Scuffles, violence and allegations of rigging had marred the polling process, with the PML-N and PPP accusing each other of electoral malpractice.

“The PML-N thinks that after its defeat in Gilgit-Baltistan, a defeat in AJK would mean a countdown begins for its government,” Bilawal said while addressing a rally in Muzaffarabad ahead of the August 2 elections. “But this is a misconception.”

READ MORE: Bilawal rejects AJK election results

“If you steal [the election] … write it down, take my guarantee, that a countdown will start for your federal government,” he warned. “If you steal my mandate, I will come for your throne.” The PPP scion added that his party had elders who had challenged former leaders, including General Ziaul Haq and Pervez Musharraf, and were experts at “hunting lions”. He also extended a message to the PTI — which has rejected the AJK elections over alleged rigging concerns — to “start doing politics” and leave behind “boycott politics”.

“Boycotting elections, boycotting Parliament, boycotting committees, boycotting your work, boycotting struggle — if you want to boycott, you might as well just sit at home,” he said, calling on the PTI to contest the elections and conduct themselves as a political party.

“Today I extend my hand towards PTI’s workers, towards its serious politicians,” he said. “To every political party that is tired of rigging, to every political worker who wants to make their own decision, come and join your hand with mine.”

He expressed hope that together, they could bring about parliamentary reforms and ensure fair elections in Kashmir and all of Pakistan, expressing his readiness to work with all political parties on that agenda.

While addressing the rally, he said that he welcomed the PML-N’s promise to provide Kashmir with buses, but added that “if you come to Muzaffarabad bringing the spectacle of what you have done in Lahore, people will ask: what you have done in Muzaffarabad?”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026