First phase of AJK elections begins as 1.4 million voters go to polls

ISLAMABAD:

Voting for the first phase of the 2026 Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly elections began peacefully across Mirpur Division on Monday, with over 1.4 million voters expected to cast their votes under extensive security arrangements involving over 19,000 security personnel and thousands of election officials.

The elections will be held in three phases as per a revised schedule announced by AJK Chief Election Commissioner Ghulam Mustafa Mughal on July 21. The first phase covers all 13 constituencies of Mirpur division, while polling in Muzaffarabad division and 12 refugee constituencies will be held on August 2, followed by Poonch (Rawalakot) division on August 10.

Voting began at 8:00 am and will continue uninterrupted until 5:00 pm, with police, Pakistan Army, rangers and other law enforcement personnel deployed at polling stations to ensure a peaceful electoral process.

More than 1.4 million registered voters are eligible to vote in the 13 constituencies of Mirpur Division, comprising four seats in Mirpur district, three in Bhimber and six in Kotli. The Election Commission has set up 2,454 polling stations and 3,701 polling booths, while around 22,000 election officials have been deployed to carry out the electoral process.

The authorities have declared 1,965 polling stations as sensitive or highly sensitive. To maintain law and order, over 19,000 security personnel have been deployed across the division, including 17,000 police officers, while 2,100 army soldiers remain on standby as a backup force.

Read: More than 17,000 security officers deployed as AJK elections begin today

In LA-1 Dadyal constituency, elections began in a peaceful atmosphere and under heightened security measures. According to the Election Commission, 105,174 registered voters (including 53,211 men and 51,963 women) are eligible to cast their votes in the constituency.

The Election Commission has established 139 polling stations and 234 polling booths in LA-1 Dadyal. Local authorities have declared all 139 polling stations sensitive and have deployed security personnel throughout the electoral district.

A total of 288 candidates are contesting the 13 Legislative Assembly seats in Mirpur Division. As in previous elections, the main contests are expected to be between the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) and, in some constituencies, influential independent candidates.

PPP accuses the federal government of manipulation

Meanwhile, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) General Secretary Nadeem Afzal Chan accused the federal government of interfering in the ongoing AJK elections, called for a free and transparent electoral process and urged the federal administration to refrain from influencing the vote.

In a video message shared on the PPP’s official X account, Chan referred to a statement by PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah alleging electoral irregularities in a Kotli constituency.

“I saw Rana Sanaullah’s statement this morning. He says rigging is taking place in a Kotli constituency,” Chan said. He maintained that the PPP, “from day one,” had expressed concerns about what it described as the federal government’s involvement in the elections.

“Federal ministers have been announcing development projects and are sitting in government offices even on election day. This amounts to interference in elections,” he said.

Chan said the party’s main demand was that “the federal administration and the federal machinery should not interfere in the elections under any circumstances.”

He added that the PPP had repeatedly written to the AJK Chief Electoral Commissioner, urging the commission to ensure that the elections were held freely and fairly. “Announcements of development projects in Kashmir, dispatch of buses and use of state resources must stop immediately,” he said.

Responding to allegations about the recovery of electoral bags in Kotli, Chan said the election staff had spent the night at the house of a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporter.

“Rana Sahib says rigging is taking place in Kotli and voting bags have been recovered. I want to point out that polling staff have to stay somewhere, and they were staying at a PTI worker’s house,” he said.

Chan urged political parties to compete through the electoral process instead of making accusations and said the party had written to the Electoral Commission demanding transparent elections.

To combat manipulation attempts, the party said it has established a Kashmir Election Monitoring Cell at its Central Secretariat in Islamabad to monitor the AJK elections. According to a statement issued by the party, the monitoring cell was created following instructions from the central leadership of the PPP to supervise the electoral process.

The party said senior PPP leaders stationed in the monitoring cell maintain continuous contact with the Election Commission, district administration, relevant institutions as well as party candidates and representatives to ensure effective monitoring of the elections.

The PPP said it was taking all possible measures to help ensure that the electoral process remained free, fair, transparent and impartial, while safeguarding the public’s right to vote in accordance with the electoral code of conduct.

The monitoring cell includes PPP Central Vice President Senator Sherry Rehman, Central Secretary Information Nadeem Afzal Chan, party leader Shazia Marri, Sindh Chief Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon, Sindh Minister Saeed Ghani and other senior leaders of the party.

In a separate post, the party alleged that PML-N workers interfered in the electoral process in LA-8 Kotli-I, asking the AJK Election Commission to take immediate action.

PPP AJK election cell in-charge Sardar Abdul Shakoor alleged that PML-N workers tried to disrupt voting at polling station 104, Radh Kattar, near the Line of Control (LoC) in Raj Mahal.

The PPP also alleged attempts to influence polls in LA-12 Thurochi. Shakoor alleged that PML-N candidate Raja Riasat Khan had allegedly arrived at the polling stations in Union Council Thurochi, the constituency of PPP candidate Chaudhry Muhammad Yasin, accompanied by armed individuals in an attempt to influence the voting process.

Shakoor said the alleged incident had created fear among voters and claimed that slow mobile phone services were hampering communication by local residents, the media and emergency services.