MUZAFFARABAD: For­­m­­er Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) prime minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas on Wednesday resigned from PPP following differences over distribution of party tickets.

According to his spokesperson, Mr Ilyas forwarded his re­­signation to PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari after senior party leaders met him over the past three days in an effort to persuade him to reconsider his decision, but to no avail.

Sources said Mr Ilyas had submitted his nomi­nation pap­ers in three constituencies — LA-15 (Bagh-II), LA-22 (Poon­ch-V) and LA-25 (Neelum-I).

In the 2021 elections, he was elected from LA-15, but after his disqualification in April 2023, the seat was won by PPP’s Ziaul Qamar in a by-election.

According to sources, Mr Ilyas wished to contest from both LA-15 and LA-22, whereas the PPP leadership wanted him to contest from LA-25 (Neelum-I), an option he was unwilling to accept.

Agri­culture Minister Ali Shan Soni, who had joined the PPP alongside Mr Ilyas, also resig­ned from the party’s membership, according to sources clo­se to the former premier. There were also reports that he had resigned from the cabinet.

Mr Soni was widely expe­c­ted to secure the PPP ticket from LA-6 (Samahni), but he did not submit an application for the party nomination, pro­mpting the PPP initially to de­­fer a decision on the constituency before eventually awarding the ticket to retired Major Khizar-ur-Rehman Raja.

Party tickets finalised

On Tuesday, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Faryal Talpur held a meeting with five senior party leaders from AJK to finalise the remaining party tickets. Mr Ilyas was not invi­ted, reinforcing speculation that his association with the party had effectively come to an end.

On Wednesday, the PPP formally announced Ziaul Qamar as its candidate for LA-15 and Ahmed Saghir for LA-22, effectively shutting the door on Mr Ilyas’s aspirations in both constituencies.

The party also preferred young Waleed Inqilabi, its unsuccessful candidate in the 2021 elections from LA-29 (Khuiratta), over Infor­­mation Minister Rafique Nayyar, who had quit PTI and joined the PPP in June last year amid expectations that he would be awarded the ticket. Mr Nayyar had won the 1996 election on a PPP ticket.

The ticket of Legislative Assem­bly Speaker Chaudhry Latif Akbar for LA-31 (Muzaffarabad-IV) was also announced on Wednesday.

Late on Wednesday, the LA-25 ticket was also awa­rded to Senior Minister Mian Abdul Waheed, who had earlier been nominated for LA-26 (Neelum-II), making him the party’s candidate in both constituencies.

Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2026