Muzaffarabad, August 15, 2026: Polling concluded at 23 polling stations in two constituencies of Azad Jammu and Kashmir’s (AJK) Bagh district on Saturday, with voting held amid a low turnout and no immediate reports of violence.
Polling began at 8am in LA-15 (Bagh Central) and LA-16 (Eastern Bagh), where the AJK Election Commission had ordered fresh polling after voting could not take place at the stations during the third phase of the elections on Monday.
The commission had earlier said polling was proceeding peacefully, although turnout remained negligible in both constituencies.
In LA-15, the previously recorded results showed PPP candidate Sardar Ziaul Qamar leading with 16,637 votes, followed by PML-N’s Mushtaq Ahmed Minhas with 15,015 votes and Jamaat-i-Islami’s retired Brig Dr Muhammad Khan with 12,259 votes.
However, the result was withheld after polling could not be conducted at nine stations.
Similarly, the result of LA-16 was withheld after voting could not take place at 14 polling stations involving 7,238 registered voters.
Results from the polling stations where voting had previously taken place showed PML-N candidate Sardar Mir Akbar leading with 19,515 votes, followed by PPP’s Sardar Qamaruz Zaman, who trailed by 3,225 votes.
All five candidates contesting the two constituencies had accused their rivals of widespread rigging.
Rathore notified as returned candidate from LA-17
Meanwhile, the AJK Election Commission notified Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore as the returned candidate from LA-17 (Haveli).
The notification was issued late on Friday and made available to the media on Saturday.
LA-17 emerged as one of the most contentious constituencies during the third phase of polling on Monday. The election was further disputed after the returning officer issued Form 27 declaring Rathore the winner on Wednesday.
His PML-N rival, Engr Mohsin Aziz, subsequently challenged the result, claiming that he had been assured that the result would not be announced until his complaint was considered by the Election Commission.
AJK Chief Election Commissioner retired Justice Ghulam Mustafa Mughal heard arguments from both sides on Thursday and reserved his decision.
The Election Commission said on Saturday that it would announce its decision on the petitions at 5pm.
PML-N leads overall tally
The AJK elections have been conducted in phases amid political tensions and law-and-order concerns across parts of the region.
The PML-N has so far secured 24 seats, winning nine constituencies from Mirpur division in the first phase on July 27 and another 15 seats in the second phase on August 2, covering Muzaffarabad division and 12 refugee constituencies.
The PPP has won 10 constituencies during the first two phases.
The third phase was originally scheduled to cover all 11 constituencies of Poonch division, including three in Bagh, one in Haveli, five in Poonch district and two in Sudhnoti district.
However, citing law-and-order concerns, the AJK Election Commission limited polling to Bagh and Haveli.
Polling was held in the two areas on Monday, but the commission subsequently withheld the results of LA-15 and LA-16 and ordered repolling at the 23 polling stations.
The commission, however, announced the result of LA-14 (Bagh-I), commonly known as Dhirkot, where Jammu Kashmir Awami Dast-o-Bazu Party candidate Sajid Iqbal Abbasi secured a landslide victory with 40,522 votes.
