Bagh, August 8, 2026: Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah has claimed that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) will form the government in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) with a two-thirds majority following completion of the ongoing elections.
Addressing a public rally in Bagh ahead of the third phase of AJK elections, Sanaullah said the PML-N had secured 24 seats in the first two phases and needed six additional seats to achieve a two-thirds majority.
He expressed confidence that the party would win four more seats in the August 10 polling in Bagh and Haveli, followed by five additional seats when elections are eventually held in the remaining constituencies of Poonch Division.
“The PML-N will form a government with a two-thirds majority. The people of Kashmir have trusted PML-N. They have trusted Mian Nawaz Sharif. They have trusted the development in Punjab,” he said.
The third phase of elections was originally scheduled to cover all 11 constituencies of Poonch Division but was revised by the AJK Election Commission because of law and order concerns. Polling will now take place on August 10 in three constituencies of Bagh and one constituency of Haveli, while elections in Poonch district and Pallandri have been postponed.
Sanaullah urged voters in Bagh to turn out in large numbers on Monday, saying a PML-N government would give priority to development projects and public welfare.
He also pledged that a future PML-N government in AJK would hold talks with representatives of the proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), which has been staging protests in the region and demanding the abolition of 12 seats in the AJK legislature reserved for refugees from Indian-held Kashmir.
“When this government will be set up, with a two-thirds majority, they will sit with [JAAC] representatives. Their first task will be to resolve this issue,” he said.
Sanaullah described the overwhelming majority of JAAC protesters as “our brothers”, saying they were patriotic Kashmiris and Pakistanis, while accusing a small number of elements of attempting to create divisions.
He also alleged that India was seeking to create misunderstandings between Pakistan and the people of AJK after failing to achieve its objectives through direct confrontation.
He called for cooperation between the future AJK government and the people to counter what he termed divisive elements.
“We will defeat them and we will make Kashmir prosperous,” Sanaullah said.
The PML-N leader also highlighted previous development initiatives in AJK, claiming that major development projects in the region had been completed when the party was simultaneously in power at the federal and AJK levels.
He said PML-N founder Nawaz Sharif would fulfil his commitments to the people of AJK and would nominate one of the party’s three candidates in Bagh as the future prime minister of the region.
According to Sanaullah, Nawaz Sharif had also indicated that he would meet the future AJK prime minister to discuss development projects for the region.
Highlighting federal support, Sanaullah said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government had approved a Rs23 billion special package for AJK in 2024 and provided a wheat subsidy to facilitate the people.
He added that the federal government had also approved five Daanish Schools for AJK, while the PML-N intended to extend its Punjab-focused public welfare and development model to the region.
