3rd phase of AJK elections: PML-N poised for gains in Poonch amid rigging allegations

In Azad Jammu and Kashmir's third phase of elections, four Poonch division constituencies voted Monday amid rigging allegations, violence, and suspended polling at some sites. The biggest upset: Muslim Conference president Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan lost his Dhirkot seat, held by his family in every election since 1985, to newcomer Sajid Iqbal Abbasi by more than twenty-one thousand votes. Dawn reports the PPP has repeatedly accused the PML-N of rigging, including claims of blocked roads, removed polling agents, and even gunfire disrupting one station, while PML-N leaders dismiss the allegations as unsupported. With 24 seats already secured from earlier phases, the PML-N remains confident of forming AJK's next government, though seven remaining Poonch constituencies aren't expected to vote until around August twentieth or twenty-first.

Listen to this story

Hear this and more stories in a personalized audio briefing.

Open The Chonkerton