AJK elections: Voting concludes in two constituencies as PPP again alleges rigging

ISLAMABAD: Voting in two AJK constituencies concluded on Tuesday after it could not be held on the scheduled date of Aug 2 during the second phase of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir elections, as the PPP again alleged rigging.

Authorities had postponed polling in LA-27 Muzaffarabad-I (Kutla) and at 71 of the 174 polling stations in LA-28 Muzaffarabad-II (Lachhrat) due to landslides and bad weather, which had resulted in blocked roads.

Elections in AJK are being held in three phases due to security concerns, with polling having been held on seven seats of Muzaffarabad division and 12 refugee seats — reserved seats for refugees from India-occupied Kashmir — on Sunday. In the third phase, elections will be held in 11 constituencies of Poonch division on August 10.

The first phase of polling was held in AJK’s Mirpur division on July 27, in which the PML-N had secured nine of the 13 seats while the PPP won the remaining four.

The two parties, which are allies in Centre, have been engaged in a war of words since, with the PPP accusing the PML-N of rigging, violence and electoral malpractices.

Rigging allegations

It levelled the same allegations on Tuesday, with the party posting a complaint on its X account that it said it had sent to the Election Commission.

It claimed that polling staff had been “caught red-handed with official ballot papers and polling bags inside the house of a PML-N supporter, approximately two kilometres from the designated polling site” in LA-27 Muzaffarabad-I (Kotla) in union council Bheri.

The PPP claimed it had “concrete evidence” that polling staff at polling station no.3 had moved to the residence of a PML-N candidate and abandoned their post.

It also shared a statement by PPP Vice President Sherry Rehman on X, with her saying that and the reports of the presence of polling staff at a PML-N supporter’s residence were concerning.

She said videos related to “rigging by the PML-N” had been handed over to the Election Commission as evidence and demanded immediate disciplinary and legal action.

When Dawn asked Election Commission official Khawaja Muhammed Ahsan about the videos, he said a PPP worker had shared some videos, but “they are vague and amount to a little more than unverified allegations”.

“Unless the footage is authenticated through proper forensic examination and corroborated by other credible evidence, it cannot be treated as proof,” he added.

Meanwhile, the PPP shared another complaint addressed to the Election Commission on X. It accused the PML-N of ballot stuffing at polling stations no.95 and no.97 in LA-28 and of obstructing the polling process by barring voters from casting their votes.

The PPP also alleged that at polling station no.92 in LA-27, the presiding officer was stuffing ballots and called for him to be replaced by someone “neutral”.

In yet another complaint, the PPP accused PML-N workers of firing in Bandi in LA-28 to “terrorise the residents of Bandi and keep them inside their homes so that they do not proceed to the polling stations”.

Tallal Chaudhry tells Bilawal to ’show grace in defeat’

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Interior and PML-N’s election coordinator for Poonch division, Tallal Chaudhry, rejected earlier allegations of rigging made by PPP in the AJK elections and took a swipe at PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, saying “leaders should not cry over defeat”, according to a statement issued by the interior ministry.

Presiding over a review meeting on the third phase of AJK elections in Poonch division, Chaudhry said PML-N’s sweeping victory in the first two phases was a reflection of public trust in the performance of the federal and Punjab governments.

“The people of Kashmir have voted for work and performance,” he told district constituency coordinators and PML-N candidates from Poonch division who attended the meeting.

Seemingly responding to PPP’s allegations related to electoral malpractices, the minister said: “Bilawal Bhutto should show a big heart. Leaders do not look good when they cry over defeat.”

He added that the mandate given to PML-N in AJK showed that “every part of Pakistan wants to become like Punjab” in terms of development and governance.

He expressed confidence that the PML-N would secure a majority of seats in the third phase of the AJK elections.

A day earlier, Bilawal had warned the PML-N that a “countdown” for it had begun and declared that his party’s “movement” for people’s rights would extend to the entire country.

In a series of clips posted on X on Monday, Bilawal affirmed that his party’s struggle for the people’s right to governance, ownership and employment will continue.

The PPP chairman said, “And my message for the friends in PML-N is just this: you can hear that voice, listen carefully, tick tock, tick tock. Your countdown has begun.”

Bilawal had given a similar warning last week to the federal government, which is led by the PML-N in alliance with his own PPP.

Senior leaders of his party have made similar remarks in recent days, even alleging the PML-N of rigging in the 2024 general elections, which resulted in both parties being part of the current ruling coalition in the Centre. Both parties have also traded barbs over governance, political mandate and provincial performance.