• Bilawal demands re-polling in Mirpur, calls PML-N ‘product of rigging’
• Maryam fires back, labels PPP ‘masters of rigging’, wonders why party is crying foul
• Azma asks opponents to seek legal remedies instead of ‘using abusive language’
• Ex-PM alarmed by ruling partner’s move to ignore ‘legitimate grievances’, calls for probe
MUZAFFARABAD/LAHORE: The PPP and the PML-N on Wednesday continued to trade barbs over alleged irregularities in the first phase of the Azad Jammu Kashmir elections, in which the PML-N grabbed nine out of 13 seats, prompting the PPP to demand re-polling in Mirpur.
In his speech, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari demanded re-election in Mirpur, refusing to accept his party’s defeat in the Mirpur elections. Addressing a PPP workers’ convention in Muzaffarabad, he called on the AJK Election Commission to hold re-polling in Mirpur if “you are not involved in this rigging”.
Directly taking a jibe at Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, he said: “If someone is sitting on the PM’s seat, or someone is sitting on the CM’s position today, even a child knows that it is not because of the people’s votes or your performance but because of Form-47.”
Mr Bhutto-Zardari’s allegations on Wednesday were in continuation of his party’s accusations from the day before, when the PPP and the PML-N sparred over election results, with CM Maryam Nawaz asking the PPP to accept its defeat.
Shortly before the PPP chief’s speech on Wednesday, the Punjab CM again took a jibe at the PPP on X, saying: “The PPP, which is the master of the fine art of rigging, is crying foul. When is doomsday?”
Responding to her on X, PPP’s Sharjeel Memon said, “This is not you speaking but Form-47. Doomsday came in 2024, when mandates were being distributed in charity.”
‘Product of rigging’
The PPP chief assailed the PML-N, claiming that the party was a “product of rigging”. Drawing a contrast with his own party, he said that the PPP’s track record “dated back three generations”. He went on to claim that “there has not been a single election where the PML-N has won through the people’s vote […], but always due to rigging”. “Do they think we will allow them to rig the elections in Kashmir?” he asked rhetorically.
“The Kashmiri people will not bow down and let anyone steal their mandate,” he added. “This is Muzaffarabad, not Srinagar,” the PPP chairman said, vowing that his party would ensure that the opposing side’s “rigging attempts go in vain”. In an apparent response to CM Maryam’s remarks, he said he was ready to accept defeat but added that “if you are going to steal our mandate by rigging the election, then I cannot accept these results”. He also reiterated PPP’s recommendation regarding the formation of a truth and reconciliation commission to address the ongoing unrest in AJK.
He called on both sides — the government and the now proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee — to accept the demand. “If you walk the righteous path and if you are on the side of the truth, then why are you not forming the commission?” he asked.
The PPP leader asked the crowd to vote for the PPP in the upcoming phase of the election on August 2, stating: “Convey the message to Poonch, Rawalakot and Islamabad that Muzaffarabad demands a truth and reconciliation commission be formed.”
Azma lashes out at PPP
The tiff in Azad Kashmir spilt over into Punjab too, as Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari took the PPP to task after it accused the PML-N of rigging in elections. Ms Bokhari told a presser that the people of Azad Kashmir had voted for “development, innovation, performance and prosperity”.
She argued that the PPP had little to offer voters in terms of its record of governance, claiming that Punjab was leading the country in development while Karachi had been left “at the mercy of the tanker mafia”. The minister accused the PPP of resorting to allegations of rigging after every electoral defeat, despite the election administration in the province being under its own government. She advised the PPP to seek legal remedies if it had evidence of electoral malpractice instead of resorting to what she described as abusive language, baseless allegations and the politics of hatred.
Addressing a press conference in Lahore, PPP Central Punjab General Secretary Hassan Murtaza also claimed that the rigging had “exposed the commission’s role and the robbery of the PPP’s mandate in broad daylight”.
Ex-PM seeks probe
Separately, ex-PM and PPP leader Raja Pervaiz Ashraf addressed a press conference in Islamabad, where he presented what he described as evidence for the alleged rigging. “The other day, I demanded that the chief election commissioner should immediately decide on the constituencies where we have raised objections,” he said, calling for an investigation “based on fact and evidence”. He asked if the party did not have the right to approach the relevant forum over the matter, stressing that “only the people of Pakistan and Kashmir can be judges of the issue”. He also objected to statements by the PML-N leadership advising PPP to “move on”, raising alarm that PPP’s “legitimate grievances” were not being taken into account. The PPP leader then went on to show “video evidence” of the alleged rigging.
Notified winners
Meanwhile, the AJK Election Commission officially notified the 13 successful candidates elected from Mirpur division in the first phase of the Legislative Assembly elections held on July 27. The PML-N secured nine of the 13 seats, while the PPP won the remaining four.
The notified winners were Chaudhry Azhar Sadiq (PML-N) from LA-1 (Mirpur-I), Chaudhry Qasim Majeed (PPP) from LA-2 (Mirpur-II), Chaudhry Yasir Sultan (PPP) from LA-3 (Mirpur-III), Rukhsar Ahmed (PML-N) from LA-4 (Mirpur-IV), Waqar Ahmed Noor (PML-N) from LA-5 (Bhimber-I), Mohammad Razzaq Chaudhry (PML-N) from LA-6 (Bhimber-II), Chaudhry Tariq Farooq (PML-N) from LA-7 (Bhimber-III), Zafar Iqbal Malik (PPP) from LA-8 (Kotli-I), Umair Naeem (PML-N) from LA-9 (Kotli-II), Mohammad Yasin Chaudhry (PPP) from LA-10 (Kotli-III), Mohammad Asif (PML-N) from LA-11 (Kotli-IV), Mohammad Riasat Khan (PML-N) from LA-12 (Kotli-V) and Raja Ayaz Ahmed (PML-N) from LA-13 (Kotli-VI).
Published in Dawn, July 30th, 2026