Muzaffarabad, July 21, 2026: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday launched his party’s campaign for the upcoming Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) elections, promising a major increase in the region’s development budget, new infrastructure projects and regular oversight of development work if the party forms the next government.
Addressing a public rally in Muzaffarabad alongside Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, Nawaz Sharif said he would ask Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to appoint him as the prime minister of AJK if the PML-N secured victory in the elections.
The former prime minister said it had been a long time since he last met the people of Azad Kashmir and described the region as his “second home.”
He questioned why a motorway had not been constructed between Kohala and Muzaffarabad and pledged to personally visit AJK every three months to review the progress of development projects if the PML-N came to power.
Urging voters to support the party, Nawaz Sharif promised a tenfold increase in AJK’s budget and said the PML-N would launch major infrastructure and public welfare projects across the region.
He said the party had never discriminated between Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and the four provinces in undertaking development projects, adding that initiatives similar to those implemented in Punjab would also be introduced in AJK.
Recalling his previous tenure as prime minister, Nawaz Sharif said his government had doubled the AJK budget and vowed to increase it tenfold if the PML-N formed the next regional government.
He also announced that 10 electric, air-conditioned green buses would arrive in Muzaffarabad within days, while 15 mobile hospitals would also be provided for the region.
Addressing the rally, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz said she did not consider herself a guest in Azad Kashmir, describing the region as part of her identity and heritage.
She claimed that the PML-N had won 17 seats in the previous AJK elections, alleging that the election results had later been altered, which she said contributed to the region’s current challenges.
Without naming any political party, Maryam Nawaz criticised her opponents for making repeated complaints despite being in government.
Highlighting the Punjab government’s performance, she said the PML-N was presenting its record of governance rather than making empty promises and pledged that the party would transform the future of Azad Kashmir if elected.
The Punjab chief minister also announced that several Punjab government initiatives would be extended to AJK, including housing, sanitation and youth welfare programmes.
She said 2,000 scholarships and laptops would be provided to students in the region, while the Punjab government’s “Apni Chhat Apna Ghar” housing initiative would also be introduced in Azad Kashmir. Maryam Nawaz added that she would request Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to launch a “Suthra Azad Kashmir” cleanliness programme for the region.
