• PML-N secures majority with 23 seats as PPP vows to challenge ‘stolen mandate’
• Bilawal terms polls ‘rigged’, ‘bloody’; claims ‘clock is ticking’ for federal govt
• Rana Sanaullah rejects PPP claims, says unrest was ‘planned’
• PTI says both partners beneficiaries of Feb 8 ‘mandate theft’
• Voting in two ‘delayed’ constituencies today
MUZAFFARABAD: Coalition partners at the Centre, the PPP and the PML-N, continued to trade allegations of rigging on Monday following the second phase of elections to the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly a day earlier, as the latter secured a majority of the seats, according to the official results of Sunday’s polls.
Following the official announcement by AJK Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) retired Justice Ghulam Mustafa Mughal that the PML-N had bagged 14 seats and the PPP only five in the election in Muzaffarabad division, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, in a televised message, warned that the federal government’s “reverse countdown” had begun. He alleged that the elections were neither free nor fair, describing them as “rigged, violent and bloody”.
During the first phase of elections in the Mirpur division on July 27, the PML-N had secured nine of the 13 seats, while the PPP won the remaining four.
Mr Bhutto-Zardari claimed that the PPP had won nine seats and vowed to reclaim what he alleged were seats “stolen” from the party in Mirpur and Muzaffarabad.
Announcing that he would address a public rally in Bagh ahead of the Aug 10 polling in the Poonch division, he reiterated that the PPP would continue its political struggle without retreat.
Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad, PPP senior leader Sharjeel Inam Memon also hinted that his party could withdraw its support for the PML-N at the Centre. However, he added that the PPP would take part in the third phase of AJK polls, scheduled to be held in 11 constituencies of the Poonch division on August 10.
“Now the PPP leadership will decide what to do,” he added, while reiterating the PTI’s stance that the PML-N government was a “Form-47 regime”.
He said that after the 2024 general elections, the PPP had also contacted the PTI for extending its support, but the latter had turned down the offer. “Then, after much thought, the PPP decided to back the PML-N,” he added.
PML-N’s accusations
PML-N senior leader Rana Sanaullah, also the prime minister’s aide on political affairs, said his party had now gained the “simple majority” required to form a government in AJK.
He was addressing a press conference alongside Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Amir Muqam in the federal capital.
“We have the government-forming number,” he said, adding that “there are a total of 45 seats […] and out of 45, PML-N has so far secured 23 seats”.
Speaking about PPP’s rigging allegations, the PML-N leader dismissed them and accused the PPP of colluding with the proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) to disrupt the election process in Muzaffarabad.
“Anticipating PML-N’s win, PPP along with the action committee planned riots and […] fired at police personnel when they got there,” Mr Sanaullah alleged.
He claimed that the incident created an atmosphere of fear in the area, which led to a lower turnout.
“We received at least 3,000 to 4,000 fewer votes due to this,” he claimed.
On PPP’s allegations that an attempt had been made on the life of its candidate, AJK Legislative Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Latif Akbar, he accused the party of staging a “drama”. He also claimed that the PPP had refused to get Mr Akbar’s medico-legal examination conducted.
Mr Sanaullah accused the PPP of employing “dirty tricks” to sabotage the electoral process, saying that the party’s actions violated the Charter of Democracy, under which both parties had agreed not to “malign each other’s mandate with such dirty tricks”.
Addressing a press conference in Lahore, Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari claimed that the PML-N had secured more than 100,000 votes, while the PPP received only a little over 2,000 votes.
‘Crocodile tears’
PTI Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram said that the PPP chairman’s claims of electoral rigging in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) were nothing more than “crocodile tears”, as both the PPP and the PML-N were direct beneficiaries of the February 8 “mandate theft”.
In a statement, the PTI leader said it was astonishing that those who came to power through systematic electoral manipulation and the “robbery” of the public mandate were now attempting to portray themselves as victims.
Polls today
During his press conference, the AJK CEC also said polling would take place on Tuesday (today) in two Muzaffarabad constituencies — all 197 polling stations in LA-27 Muzaffarabad-I (Kutla) and 54 polling stations in three union councils of LA-28 Muzaffarabad-II (Lachhrat).
Voting was delayed on in these two constituencies on Sunday because polling staff and election materials could not arrive on time.
According to unofficial and unverified results from the 120 polling stations where voting was held on Sunday, PPP’s Syed Bazil Ali Naqvi was leading PML-N’s Chaudhry Shahzad Mehmood by just five votes.
Justice Mughal said roads had since been reopened and additional security personnel deployed after forces returned from other areas. Polling staff had already been dispatched to their respective stations under security escort.
Elaborating on the official results announced, the CEC said that out of the 14 seats secured by the PML-N, four were territorial and 10 were refugee constituencies. Similarly, he added that the PPP had won three territorial and two refugee seats.
Keeping in view Tuesday’s polling, the Muzaffarabad deputy commissioner had declared the day a public holiday across the district.
Boycott call
Meanwhile, after Sunday’s polling, former prime minister and Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) regional president Sardar Tanveer Ilyas, who secured barely 3,300 votes in Upper Neelum, announced a boycott of the remaining phases of the elections.
However, during Tuesday’s polling in the Muzaffarabad division, his party’s Sardar Tabarak Ali is contesting against the PPP’s Sardar Javed Ayoub and the PML-N’s Noreen Arif in LA-27 (Kutla) and is regarded as one of the strongest contenders.
Distancing itself from Mr Ilyas’s announcement, IPP Secretary General Mian Khalid Mahmood said it reflected his personal opinion rather than the party’s policy.
“In accordance with the instructions of party president Abdul Aleem Khan, the party will vigorously take part in the third phase of elections,” he said.
With additional reporting from Ikram Junaidi and Syed Irfan Raza in Islamabad and Zulqernain Tahir in Lahore
Published in Dawn, August 4th, 2026
