RAWALPINDI: The Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) won three seats of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly from the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad on Thursday.

After five years, the PML-N managed to get back the three seats from the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

In the AJK legislative assembly, three constituencies of the Valley and Jammu fall in Islamabad and Rawalpindi division and six in different districts of the province including Lahore.

After the partition of the subcontinent, Kashmiris mostly migrated to Pakistan and settled in different cities of Punjab and other provinces. They have been given the right to vote in the AJK elections.

The AJK legislative assembly constituency of Jammu-VI falls in Rawalpindi and Islamabad as well as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with 3,400 votes, Kashmir Valley-IV, comprising the areas of Rawalpindi city union council 15 to 50, has 3,600 votes while Kashmir Valley-V consists of the Rawalpindi city areas from UC 1 to 14, the Islamabad capital territory, Rawalpindi Cantonment and Attock district with 6,200 votes.

PPP candidates say ruling party used money, removed names of their supporters from voter lists

After the elections on Thursday, PML-N workers and supporters celebrated the victory of their party. They gathered at Banni Chowk, Satellite Town, Dhoke Khabba and Raja Bazaar and danced to the drumbeats. Sweets were also distributed on the occasion.

The PML-N workers also opened fire in jubilation while youngsters showed stunts on motorcycles. They took a round of the city on motorbikes and cars.

During the polling, however, the turnout remained low. Unofficial estimates put the turnout at less than 25-30pc. Political workers attributed the low turnout to the voters’ lack of interest and errors in the voter lists.

More than 200 voters staged a protest demonstration outside the Millat Colony polling station, Dhoke Khabba, saying their names were missing from the voter lists for LA-39 Valley 4.

Mohammad Tariq, a resident of Millat Colony, and 11 members of his family went to the polling station but the presiding officer told them that the list provided by the AJK election commission did not contain their names.

Similar complaints were reported from Satellite Town, Paghwari and Raja Bazaar polling stations. Upon this, the voters contacted PPP candidate Azhar Hussain Gillani, who approached the presiding officers. The lists with the presiding officers did not have the names of these voters.

However, the lists provided to the candidates had the names of the voters. The confusion created mess in different polling stations.

Azhar Hussain Gillani told Dawn that the PML-N rigged the elections by making changes in the voter lists a few days before the elections.

“The local leaders of the PML-N distributed money among the voters on the polling day,” he alleged.

He said the names of 200 voters were missing from the lists. “The election commission prepared the lists as per the wishes of the ruling PML-N after excluding the PPP voters.”

He said the number of voters in the Valley-4 in the last elections was 6,000 but it decreased to 3,600 in the 2016 elections as the votes of the PPP were removed from the lists.

Another PPP candidate, Abdus Salam Butt, told Dawn that the PML-N rigged the elections by using money. “This time, the administration and police did not intervene but the ruling party local leaders managed to win the seats by doling out money,” he alleged.

On the other hand, former PML-N MNA Malik Shakil Awan alleged that the PPP candidates distributed money which they had earned during the tenure of the party in the AJK. But the people wanted to bring the PML-N to power in Azad Kashmir.

“The PTI was wiped out in Rawalpindi as the people voted for the PML-N and the PPP. Imran Khan will face embarrassment as his party lost the third elections after the cantonment and local government polls in a year,” he said.

Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2016